THEORY 
PNEUMATOLOGY; 

IN REPLY TO THE QUESTION, 

WHAT OUGHT TO BE BELIEVED OR DISBELIEVED 

CONCERNING 

PRESENTIMENTS, VISIONS, AND APPARITIONS, 

ACCORDING TO — - 

Star*, %mmn, mtit Irriptar*. 

BY X 

y N; ■ 

DOCT*. JOHANN HEINRICH JUNG-STILLING. 

// 

TRANSLATED FIIOM THE GERMAN, WITH COPIOUS NOTES, 

BY SAMUEL JACKSON. 



FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, 



EDITED BY REV. GEORGE BUSH. 




NEW YORK: 
J. S. REDFIELD, CLINTON HALL, 

CORNER OF NASSAU AND BEEKMAN STHEETS. 







z . 



6, i /. /? r/ 



>v> e^f** C'*/os9* a 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, 

By J. S. REDFIELD, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the 
Southern District of New York. 



STEREOTYPED BY C. C. SAVAGE, 
13 Chambers Street, N. Y. 



I 



PREFACE, 

BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. 



It is scarcely possible for one who assumes to treat, at the 
present day, of the spiritual world — its phenomena and laws 
— to regard it as an utter terra incognita, or as a mere theme 
of theory. The time has been when this was the case ; when 
guess-work took the place of scientific induction, and a man 
was deemed to have met the demands of the subject by the ex- 
ercise of a shrewd or fertile imagination. As in the case of the 
natural world, speculation preceded science, and ingenious men 
could sit in their closets and theorize upon the formation of the 
mundane system, without any appeal to the facts of geology — 
so a similar process of spiritual cosmogony has been in vogue 
in ages past. Regarding the unseen as a field of boundless 
conjecture, its realms have been peopled by the creations of 
Fancy ; and as Fancy has appealed, so Fancy has responded. 
The voice and verdict of Reason have not been pronounced, 
nor has any decided practical influence been exerted by the 
most voluminous masses of speculation on the general subject. 
But a change has come o'er the spirit of the times ; and as the 
science of Geology has supplanted the dreams of Cosmogony, 
so the onward course of things has brought us to a point where 
the ideal in psychology and spirit-lore is bound to give place 
to the rational and the real. Unexpected developments in this 
region have wrought a wide-spread conviction, not only that there 
is a world of spirits, but that it exists in a far closer proximity 
to the sphere of the natural than has been previously imagined. 
A man can not now well sit at ease and speculate upon the 



iv PREFACE. 

world of souls as removed to an illimitable distance, and conse- 
quently making inaccessible any test of the soundness of his 
conclusions, but he is compelled to reason and to write un- 
der a deep consciousness of the presence and the pressing 
down, as it were, of that world of mystery upon the sensuous 
plane of the present life. From sources that originally pre- 
sented little but food for ridicule, a strong light has issued forth, 
and shed itself upon the dense darkness enshrouding man's psy- 
chical economy, and disclosing more or less those hidden links 
which connect his existence here with his existence hereafter. 
With whatever incredulity and contempt the alleged phenom- 
ena of Mesmerism were at first greeted by the scientific and 
the religious world, the concession has at length been fairly 
though laboriously won, that there is a grand and momentous 
truth involved in them, bearing directly on the inner constitution 
of our being. The evidence on this score has been for some few 
years constantly accumulating and adding itself to the proofs 
drawn from somnambulism, religious ecstasy, epileptic trance, 
and other abnormal conditions, to say nothing of the unequivo- 
cal testimony of Holy Writ, of the possibility of converse with 
the spirits of the departed. The influence of mind upon mind, 
the communication of ideas from one to another when the par- 
ties stand in magnetic relation with each other, and the occa- 
sional entire subjection of the one to the will of the other, has 
been established beyond question ; and in these phenomena it 
has not been difficult to recognise a preintimation of the mutual 
intercourse of spirits in the other life, and the possibility of that 
between the denizens of two worlds. 

The establishment of the reality of this intercourse between 
the two grand spheres of human existence — the spiritual and 
the natural — is the dominant scope of the present work, the 
production of one of the choicest spirits of his age, and who has 
left a memory deeply revered among his German countrymen. 
A cotemporary, associate, and personal friend, of some of the 
distinguished literati of his era, among whom were Goethe 
;i!ul Herder, he is yet known rather as the humble and fervent 
disciple of the Cross, than as the fellow of philosophers who 



PREFACE. v 

made little of the oracles of a Divine Revelation compared wiih 
the inspiration of their own lofty Rationalism. Stilling* on 
the other hand, did not scruple to avow himself of the Pietistic 
school ; and his charming Autobiography discloses a life of 
simple, trustful, loving, joyful submission to the Divine Provi- 
dence, persisted in through a series of difficulties, trials, priva-J 
tions, and distressing crises, relieved from time to time by the 
most marked interpositions, such as are scarcely to be paralleled 
in the whole range of recorded religious experience * It is in 
this character, which is especially conspicuous in the present 
work, that he is so greatly endeared to the devout classes of 
Germany, among whom his name is almost a household word. 
Yet, that he was a man of high order of intellect, and entitled 
to rank among the first metaphysical writers of his age, is abun- 
dantly evinced, not only by the fine philosophic vein that runs 
through the present treatise, but by the dominant cast of all 
his voluminous publications. His was pre-eminently an intui- 
tive mind, distinguished by a quick and easy mastery of all 
spiritual truth, and the ground of this is to be sought in the fact 
that the affectional element predominated in his nature, and from 
the ardor of love is evermore evolved the activity and keen 
perception of the intellect. 

The grand object of the work is, first of all, to overthrow the 
system of Materialism and consequent Infidelity, which is ever 
prevalent in proportion to the sensuousness of the age ; sec- 
ondly, to accumulate a long and strong array of undeniable 
facts in the department of the supernatural, and to place them 
upon their proper basis, which can never be out of season ; 
thirdly, to cast a clear and convincing light upon the state of 
the soul after death, in regard to which the most inadequate 
notions prevail ; and, lastly, by the variety of solemn consider- 
ations presented, to promote personal holiness in heart and life. 
The work is, therefore, one of universal interest, as such is the 
character of its subjects : and it is not easy to conceive that a 
candid perusal of its pages shall fail to work in the reader's 

* See " The Autobiography of Heinkich Stilling," translated by S. Jackson, 
and published by the Harpers in 1848. 



vi PREFACE. 

mind a conviction of its deep importance, as well as of its signal 
ability. 

The subject may perhaps be justly deemed to have been 
hitherto somewhat unpopular, and it is one which, from its pe- 
culiar nature, is easily made a theme of ridicule and banter, 
and thus may be brought into ill repute with even serious 
minds, while the learned and the subtle deem it a realm too 
mystic and shadowy to invite their researches, even with a view 
to confute its assumptions. On all hands it is prone to be 
regarded as a subject on which there is no possibility of gain- 
ing tangible and reliable testimony. But it is in vain to argue 
against well-authenticated facts, or, from merely natural data, 
to judge of that which is spiritual. The laws of human evi- 
dence will be grossly outraged if the facts here recorded are 
set aside as valueless. Questions of life and death have been 
decided upon testimony no more valid than that which is here 
brought together in support of the fact of intercourse between 
the dwellers of the inner and the outer world. Indeed, we may 
say that there is scarcely an individual who passes through life 
without having either experienced something of the kind him- 
self, or having the experience of others confirmed to him by 
evidence which he could neither gainsay nor resist. Although, 
therefore, a work of this nature will be quite sure to encounter 
the skepticism of many who will attribute all such alleged mani- 
festations as are here treated to a disordered imagination or to 
visual illusion, and accordingly be disposed to regard with con- 
tempt the serious consideration of the subject, yet multitudes 
there doubtless are who will welcome a work professing to 
draw aside the veil which has hitherto curtained from human 
view the sublime realities of another world, and fortifying its 
positions witli such a powerful array of facts and reasonings. 

a. b. 

New York, March 1, 1851. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction. 

Belief of all Nations, in every Age, in Invisible Influences page 1 

The Objects of this Belief corresponded with the National Character 1 

Hence the Doubts of the Existence of a World of Spirits 1 

Refutation of these Doubts, and Proofs of the Reality of a World of Spirits 2 

The Bible the genuine Source of Truth 2 

Various Parties with respect to the Belief of it 2 

The First Party receives the Holy Scriptures as a Divine Revelation 2 

The Second Party subjects the Bible to the Criticism of Reason, and reduces 

everything to mere Morality 3 

The Third Party believes nothing at all — it is the most prevalent in the present 

day 3 

The Intention of this Work has Reference to all these Parties 3 

My Motives for it 3 

The First Party is shown that, among so many thousand Deceptions, there are, 

notwithstanding, real Apparitions 4 

The Second Party must not regard everything inexplicable as Natural — the 

Causes of the most dreadful Enthusiasm 4 

Mistakes of the Third and Fourth Parties, and the various Motives by which they 

are actuated , 4-6 

CHAPTER I. — Examination and Refutation of the Principles 
of Materialism. 

Dreadful Abuse of the Belief in Presentiments and Apparitions of Spirits among 

Jews and Heathens 7 

Ratification thereof by Christ and his Apostles 7 

Ideas of the first Christian Churches of the Invisible World 7 

Their Ideas of the Solar System 8 

Of the Abode and Influence of good and evil Angels and departed Souls 8 

Accordance of these Ideas with the Bible, and the then prevalent Platonic Phi- 
losophy 8 

The Pride and Ambition of the Clergy was the Cause why all these Ideas de- 
generated into dreadful Errors and Abuses 9 

The chief Source of the most senseless Superstition — its Overthrow not accom- 
plished by denying the Truth 10 



viii CONTENTS. 

Overthrow of the ancient Ptolemaic Solar System by the Copernican page 10 

Scruples with reference to this 10 

Consequences of the Reformation, and renewed Mistakes 10 

New Philosophical Systems — The Copernican System established — Prejudicial 

Consequences of this System with regard to the Christian Faith 11 

Consoling Assurance with respect to these Consequences 11 

Inconsistent Conduct of the Clergy at all these Discoveries 12 

Origin of Materialism and Fatalism 12 

The World a Machine — Its Self-Existence, which needs no Divine or Invisi- 
ble Influence 13 

Attempt of Philosophers to unite their Mechanical System with the Free Will 

of Man 13 

Hence the System of the best of Worlds — Its Absurdity 13 

Horrible Consequences of this System, and yet it continues the Guiding Star 

of modern Enlightening, which leads to Destruction 14 

Leibnitz, the Inventor of this System, did not forebode its results 15 

His Theodice 15 

Not all the Disciples of this System are so deeply sunk, but are yet on the way 

to it 15 

Hinderances in the way of my Theory of Pneumatology 15 

They must be removed 15 

To these belong the Mechanism of the World, which needs neither God, nor 

Angels, nor Spirits 15 

Notwithstanding all these Discoveries, the Common People adhere to their Faith 

and S uperstidons , 16 

The Light of modern Philosophy discovered Superstition in all its Nakedness. 16 

It was overthrown, but Faith along with it 16 

Balthazar Becker and Thomasius 16 

Basis on which the Assailers of Superstition and Faith erect their Batteries.- 16 

Atheism its Result 17 

Pretended Proof that there are neither Good nor Evil Angels 17 

Difficulty in the Explanation of Human Nature 17 

Doctrine of Indivisibility and Predetermined Harmony 17 

The present System, that the Soul can do nothing without the Body 18 

Melancholy and comfortless Consequences of this System 18 

Development of the erroneous fundamental Principles of Materialism 18 

Accomplishment and Proof of this Development 18 

Our Ideas of the Visible World depend solely upon the Organization of our 

Organs of Sense 18 

The Organs of Sense are conscious of Things in Time and Space — Both are 

their own Modes of Perception 19 

God alone views the World as it really is, but not in Time and Space — there- 
fore neither of them exist in Nature 19 

Divine Origin of the Organization of Human Nature 20 

Caution against Idealism 20 

Proof of the Assertion in the Paragraph preceding the last 20 

W hat the Sensible World is 20 

For this we are organized — To this belongs the Copernican System 20 

But for the Super-Sensible World, the Bible Idea is the true one 21 



CONTENTS. ix 

The Mechanical System is onr sure Guide in the Sensible World, but is Death 

and Destruction in the Super-Sensible page 21 

The Plan of the best World is a childish Idea 22 

Mode of acting with respect to the Divine Counsels 22 

The Sensible World consists of Beings which are entirely unknown to us.... 22 

Intimate Connection of the Super-Sensible with the Visible 22 

Light is the Medium 23 

Division of the whole Creation into the Sensible or Visible World, and the In- 
visible or World of Spirits 23 

Man enters the latter at Death 23 

The Inhabitants of the World of Spirits, who are in the two Kingdoms, consist 

of Good and Evil Angels and Human Souls 23 

Their Influence on the Invisible World 23 

The System of Materialism rejected, and the free Theocratic System put in 

its place 23 

CHAPTER II.-^Remarks upon the Nature of Man. 

Warning against soaring too high 25 

Good and Evil Angels act upon the Visible World, but our Reason and Senses 

are seldom conscious of it 25 

Proof that Mankind are by no means referred to these Influences, but solely to 

the Divine Government 26 

The Actio in Distans is unnatural in the Visible World, but natural in the In- 
visible 26 

Sense of the terms Foreboding and Presentiment 26 

Correct Idea of the Human Body in former Times 27 

Total Ignorance of the Soul, and how it operates upon the Body 27 

A newly opened Source of Knowledge 27 

Animal Magnetism — Its Origin, Abuse, and Truth 27 

Assured Sources of its Correctness and Certainty 27 

Limitation to undoubted Results 28 

Somnambulism 28 

Exaltation of the Powers of the Soul 28 

Seeing from the Region of the Heart 29 

Radiant Atmosphere around the Magnetizer, and looking into his Interior 29 

Perception of others through the Magnetizer 29 

Rapport — Perfect, exalted Consciousness — Reading from the Region of the 

Heart 29 

Remarkable Book on the Inward Man 30 

Account of an extremely interesting Somnambulist at Lyons 30 

Remarks on the foregoing Account 32 

Somnambulists read the Thoughts in the Souls of others 32 

An Example of this 32 

They attain an Insight into the World of Spirits, bring astonishing Intelligence 

thence, and know what takes place at a Distance 33 

The most uninformed Somnambulists attain in their Bodies a correct Acquaint- 
ance with their Disease, and prescribe the most effectual Remedies for it. .. 33 
Somnambulists often act like Sleepwalkers, but in a more perfect manner 31 



x CONTENTS. 

Notwithstanding the greatest Physicians are convinced of all this, they do not 

dare to act upon it, because it contradicts their System page 34 

Of Ether — The Theories of Light and Sound are inadmissible and unsatisfac- 
tory 34 

Proof that Ether is the Uniting Medium between the Visible and Invisible 

World 35 

The Nervous Power or Animal Spirit is Ethereal 35 

How this Light-Being and the Rational Soul unite in the Body 36 

Three component Parts of Man — Body, Light-Covering, and Spirit 36 

The two latter constitute the Human Soul 36 

More minute Description of the Human Soul— Half Animal, half Angel 37 

The Soul is naturally not visible 37 

The Somnambulists see it as an azure blue glimmer of Light 37 

Its Atmosphere about the Body 37 

The Soul works naturally through the Medium of the Brain and the Nerves — 

In the Magnetic State, without either 37 

In the latter State, the Soul operates in a much more lively and exalted Man- 
ner than in the former 37 

It expeiiences nothing of the Visible World, except in Itapport 38 

It is incomprehensible, that these remarkable Discoveries are not taken advan- 
tage of psychologically 38 

The Eternal Spirit must have a Medium by which it feels and is felt — This is 

Ether 38 

Inferences drawn from Magnetic Experience : 38 

They prove the Existence of a Covering of Light — that the Soul possesses the 

Body merely for the Visible World, and, without it. is much more perfect, &c. 38 

What passes in the Soul at Death 39 

The Objection refuted, that the Somnambulists use the Nerves and the Brain.. 39 

Further important Conclusions regarding the State of the Soul after Death 40 

Hysteric and melancholy Trances are nothing more than a naturally-produced 

Somnambulism 40 

All Visions, Revelations, and Prophecies, which occur in this State, are nothing 
but the Consequences of Somnambulism ; and not Divine, but the Effects of 

Disease 40 

Causes of a natural Magnetic Sleep 41 

Carnal Affection one of its fruitful Sources 41 

Several remarkable and dreadful Instances of it 42 

Substantial Proof that the holiest Souls in this State are not secure against De- 
ception ^ . 43 

Important Destiny of Man, and the Duties resulting from it , 44 

Singular Effects of Nervous Disorders ,. 44 

Appearances in a waking State, as well as in Trances, from natural Causes. .. 45 

Appearances from the Invisible World 45 

The Boundaries of both 45 

Even the most sacred and sublime Appearances may be the Effects of a dis- 
eased Imagination 45 

Its lamentable Consequences 45 

The highest kind of Apparitions founded in the Nature of Man, is when the 

Individual is able to t-how himself elsewhere, while ajive in the Body 46 



CONTENTS. xi 

Very remarkable Occurrence in America page 46 

The Circumstance explained, and ltemarks upon it 48 

Several Degrees of Detachment of the Soul from the Body 48 

Sleep — Dreams — Sleepwalkers 43 

Trances of hysterical and hypochondriacal Individuals 49 

Complete Detachment in Death 49 

In one Person this D etachment is easier than in another 49 

Secret Means for attaining it 49 

More minute and lucid Explanation of the Occurrence in America 50 

On Self-Appearances, when any one sees himself 51 

Imaginary Apparitions 51 

The Question decided where Natural Appearances cease, and those from the 

Invisible World commence 51 

On the capability of entering into Connection with the Invisible World in this 

Life 52 

The longing of certain departed Souls for this Intercourse 52 

Nature of the Invisible World, and its Situation 52 

Hades 52 

Departed Souls are as much afraid of the Apparitions of the Living, as the lat- 
ter are of them 53 

Wherein the capability of Intercourse with Spirits consists 53 

Swedenborg's History 54 

He was no Deceiver 54 

Proof that his affair with the Q,ueen of Sweden is true 55 

His announcing at Gotteuburg a Fire taking place at Stockholm 55 

He shows a Widow where her deceased Husband had deposited a Receipt .. 55 
Remarkable and authentic Account of what passed between Swedenborg and 

a Merchant of Elberfeld 56 

What is Truth and Error with respect to Swedenborg 58 

Note by American Editor — More recent Views of Swedenborg's Character... 58 

Incontestable Conclusion respecting the Nature of Man 59 

Caution against the Invisible World — How to act in such a case 62 

CHAPTER III. — On Presentiments, Predictions, Enchantments, 
and Prophesying. 

Real Presentiments 63 

Developed Faculty of Presentiments 63 

Witchcraft 63 

Predictions, and real Divine Prophecies 63 

Real Presentiments 63 

Remarkable Presentiment of the late Professor Boehm 64 

Philosophical Explanation of this Presentiment refuted 65 

True and Biblical Explanation of real Presentiments 65 

Incomprehensible Absurdity of Materialism 66 

Remarkable Presentiment of my late Principal, Mr. Spaniar 66 

Its Certainty 67 

Objection refuted 68 

Madame do Beaumont's Account of a remarkable* true Presentiment 63 



xii CONTENTS. 

Another of a Housekeeper, who foreboded that an Arbor would be struck by 

L ightning PAGE 69 

Presentiments— the Object of which is not easily ascertained 70 

Von B renkenhof 's Dream 70 

Probable Object of this Dream 71 

Very remarkable Prophetic Dream of the Princess Nagotsky, of W arsaw 72 

Three similar Dreams regarding the Lottery by Dr. Knape 73 

Presentiments communicated by a pious Preacher 78 

Reflections upon such apparently aimless Dreams 79 

Insufficiency of Materialism in the Explanation of these Facts 80 

Substantial Deductions from this dark affair 80 

Principles of my Theory of Pneumatology, and of real Presentiments 81 

Aimless Forebodings and Dreams 88 

What the Faculty of Presentiment is — Its Development 88 

How the Faculty of Presentiment operates 89 

Lasting general-developed Faculty of Presentiment — Several kinds of such 

Persons 90 

The first kind is, when the Faculty of Presentiment is developed by the Prac- 
tice of Godliness 90 

The Danger of this State, and how those have to act who find themselves in it 91 

The Conduct of others in such Circumstances 91 

Very important Caution regarding such extraordinary Gifts 92 

Remarkable Faculty of Presentiment in Madam W., of S 93 

Reflections upon it 90 

Confirmation of my Theory 96 

Magic — Warning against it 97 

Apparition of Admiral Coligny 98 

Most remarkable Prediction of M. Cazotte, at Paris, in the year 1788 98 

Proof of the Truth of this Narrative 104 

An Addition to it, and to the Proof of its Truth 105 

Reflections, Conclusions, Warnings, &c 107 

Second-Sight — a Consequence of a developed Faculty of Presentiment 109 

A singular Instance of this kind in the Province of Nassau 110 

Another from the Westphalian County of Mark Ill 

Explanation of Second-Sight; being a Consequence of a developed Faculty of 

Presentiment , 113 

Duty of the Police with respect to it 113 

Explanatory Remarks on Second-Sight 113 

Materialists not only deny all Phenomena from the Invisible World, but also 
brand them with Infamy, because they are experimental Proofs of the Chris- 
tian Religion 114 

Elucidation of this Proof 115 

What is incumbent on such Occasions 115 

Causes why such-like Apparitions are so seldom inquired into 116 

How the true Christian ought to act in this Case 116 

An important Remark 117 

On Witchcraft and Enchantment — their Possibility 117 

On the Power of Satan — He can now injure no one, except by the Man's own 
Fault 118 



CONTENTS. xiii 

No more can Witches and Magicians page 119 

Origin and History of Witchcraft 119 

An instructive Narrative, explanatory of this dark affair 121 

Such suspicious Characters should be dealt with in a rational and Christian-like 

Manner 122 

The accusing anyone of Witchcraft a horrible and yet not uncommon Crime.. 122 
Remarkable Account by Eckhartshausen of the Effects of certain Perfumes.. 123 

Appearances over Graves — probably Resurrection-Germs 126 

Note by American Editor, on " Resurrection- Germs" 126 

Why Magic Potions, Perfumes, &c, are prejudicial to Health 127 

Various Means used by Heathen Nations to pi-ocure Intercourse with the Invis- 
ible World 127 

All these Acts were forbidden by the Mosaic Law 128 

The Witch of Endor, Saul, and Samuel 123 

Extremely important Results of my Theory of the developed Faculty of Pre- 
sentiment 128 

Exhortation to Prudence with regard to the Times that are approaching 129 

Proof that the real Bible-Miracles were not wrought by Magnetism, &c 131 

Proof that the developed Faculty of Presentiment must by no means be con- 
founded with the Gift of Prophecy 131 

Real Character of the Prophets and their Predictions 135 

My Ideas of Balaam 136 

CHAPTER IV. — On Visions and Apparitions. 

Superstition has caused Accounts of Apparitions to be received with Ridicule; 

but all do not proceed from Superstition 137 

Proof of the Possibility and Reality of Apparitions of Spirits, against Philoso- 
phers and Theologians 13-8 

What I mean by Visions 138 

Rule by which a Vision may be distinguished from a real Apparition 139 

Very remarkable Apparition of a Spirit that seeks to induce one of its Descend- 
ants to dig for Treasure, and leaves striking Marks of its Presence on a Bible 

and Handkerchief 140 

An important Appendage to this Narrative 158 

Proof of its Authenticity 159 

Explanation how the Seer's Faculty of Presentiment became gradually devel- 
oped, by which Difficulties are cleared up 160 

Dreadful State of a departed Spirit, which is still fettered by Attachment to 

E arthly Things 161 

Proof that the Requests of the Spirit were improper, and that the Seer was iu 

the right not to fulfil them 161 

Illusive Appearances 162 

Proof that Spirits possess a Creative Power 162 

What would probably have been the result, if the Spirit had been obeyed 162 

Explanation how the Spirit was able to read Writing 163 

Important Inferences from the Fact that the Spirit, when angry or melancholy, 

streamed Fire from his Fingers 163 

Why he appeared in the Clothes he commonly wore 164 



xiv CONTENTS. 

Gradual Progress of Spirits after Death, with which their Appearance and 

Costume correspond page 164 

On the Intercourse and Social Relations of departed Souls 165 

Further Suppositions 165 

Proof that both the Spirit and its Superiors were in Error 166 

Well-founded Supposition that the Work of Redemption is carried on after 

Death 166 

Remarkable Apparition, which proves that we ought not to be presumptuous 

with regard to the Invisible World and its Circumstances 167 

Apparition of Augustus II., King of Poland, to Field-Marshal Von Grumbkow 168 

Certainty of the Fact 170 

Causes which might have induced the Soul of the King to appear to Grumbkow 170 
Psychological Definition of the mode of Thinking and Imagining after Death.. 171 
Whether we shall, after Death, contemplate the Works of Creation, and that 

in a superior Manner than at present 171 

What is to be inferred from Self-Apparitions 1 72 

Three Instances of it 172 

Proof that no one ever died from a mere Impression of the Imagination 173 

The possibility of it from violent Mental Emotions 173 

It is supposed that our Friends, after Death, sympathize in our Fate, and are 

about us 174 

Remarkable warning Apparition respecting the Duke of Buckingham 175 

Remarks upon it 178 

Why the Apparition did not appear to the Duke himself 179 

Another Proof that our deceased Friends sympathize in our Fate, but often 

mistake in the choice of the Means of Help 179 

Extract from a Letter regarding a very remarkable Apparition 181 

Proof that it was no empty Vision 183 

Proof that Hades ought not to be feared 184 

What is requisite for this Purpose 184 

State of a Soul to which Hades is painful 184 

Means of attaining to Rest 186 

Explanation of the Apparition mentioned in the Letter 186 

Caution to the Seer of it 286 

Observations and Instructions with respect to the Black Spirit 186 

Further important Reflections regarding the Faculty of Presentiment and the 

Resurrection-Germ 187 

Another Mode of proceeding in case of Apparitions 187 

Narrative of the Apparition in the Caroline College, at Brunswick 1 88 

Absurdity of the Efforts made by modern Philosophers to explain away this 

Fact, as well as every other of the same Nature 193 

The true reason of it 193 

The real Cause why Doerien appeared after his Death 194 

Important Rules for dying Christians 194 

Remarks upon (he Man without the Wedding Garment — Matt, xxli 195 

Further explanatory Observations relative to this Apparition , 195 

What is requisite to hoar a Spirit speak audibly 196 

Remarks on the Creative Power of Spirits .*-.- 196 

Swedenborg's Account of Spiritual Speech and Hearing (note).......,...,-, 196 



CONTENTS. xv 

O pinion of the Conduct of Professor eder page 3 97 

Very remarkable Apparition to Duke Christian, of Saxe-Eisenberg 197 

Observations upon it 202 

Caution respecting religious Intercourse with Persons of a different Sex 202 

The Importance of being reconciled before entering the other World 203 

How a departed Spirit may feel and distinguish between Heat and Cold, Light 

and Darkness 203 

Inquiry why the Reconciliation of the two Spirits took place in the eartldy 

Stale 204 

Proof of the melancholy Consequences produced in Eternity by absurd feelings 

of Rank 205 

Important Rules of Conduct with respect to Rank 205 

Particularly for Rulers 206 

Application of these Ideas to the Apparition of the last two Spirits 206 

Probable Reason why Prince Christian ordered himself to be buried in 0_uick- 

Lime 207 

On Spirits that wander about without any Object 207 

Remarkable Narrative of the Apparition of the Spirit of a Capuchin Monk 207 

Admirable Courage of the Observer, which might have been dangerous to him 213 

What he ought to have done 215 

The Spirit of the Capuchin does not belong to the Class of merely noisy 

Spectres 216 

Probable Reasons why the Spirit of the Capuchin acts the part of a Sackbearer 216 

Why he was heard so dreadfully at the happy Death of a Protestant 217 

Why the Spirit appeared twice in the Figure of a Capuchin, but did not let 

himself be seen by my Friend 217 

Inconceivable Conduct of People at the Appearance of Spirits 217 

Singular Remark, that Spirits have no Rest till their Remains are regularly 

interred 218 

Such Requests proceed from mistaken Ideas 218 

How to act in such Cases 218 

A Hint of some importance, that it is proper to inter dead Bodies 219 

Account of the celebrated White Lady, and where she appears 219 

Authenticity and Truth of this Apparition 220 

Two irrefutable Testimonies 220 

Further Account where, how, and when the White Lady appears 220 

She has only spoken twice 221 

A peculiarly remarkable Apparition of the White Lady, occasioned by the neg- 
lect of a Charitable Institution 221 

The White Lady is not in a State of Salvation, much less of Perdition 222 

Her probable History and Parentage 222 

Her name is Bertha Von Rosenberg, and she lived in the fifteenth Century 222 

Her Marriage with Johann Von Lichtcnstein proves very unhappy — hence her 

mental bitterness, which hitherto prevents her Salvation 222 

She is left a Widow, builds the Castle of Neuhaus, and institutes a yearly 

Feast for the Poor 223 

Her Place and Manner of Appearing more precisely fixed 223 

Probable Reasons why she wanders about, and occasionally appears 224 

Her State is not desirable — She is still in Error 884 



xvi CONTENTS. 

Apparitions of Spirits do not produce Amendment PAGE 224 

Concluding Remarks 225 

CHAPTER V.— Brief Summary. 

Review of the Theory of Pneumatology, and Inferences from it 226 

NOTES. 

I. Scriptural Proof of Supernatural Influence upon Mankind 237 

II. Remarkable Vision of the World of Spirits, recorded by Plutarch 238 

III. Remarkable Instance of Involuntary Detachment of Soul from Body 210 

IV. Visions of M. Nicolai— the Effect of Illness 246 

V. Doctrine of Hades, or an Intermediate State, reviewed 250 

VI. Incidents illustrating Swedenborg's Faculty of Presentiment 262 

VII. Striking Instance of Presentiment 263 

VIII. Prophetic Dream, related in the London Times of 16th August, 1828 .. 263 

IX. Efficacy of Prayer for departed Souls 265 

X. Rev. John Wesley's Account of an Apparition 268 

XL The Marquis de Marcey's Views of Apparitions from the Invisible World. 269 
XII. Views of Rev. John Wesley respecting Appearances from the Invisible 

World 272 

Remarkable Case of Elizabeth Hobson 273 

Apparition of the Laird of Cool 281 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



J. H. JUNG-STILLING, 



The distinguished author of the present treatise was born at Florenburgh, 
a village of Westphalia, in Germany, September 12, 1740. He was the son 
of humble but pious parents, and his Autobiography presents us with a series 
of interesting tableaux of his father's and mother's ancestors for one or two 
generations, among whom there seems to have reigned an almost primeval 
simplicity and innocence. In opening the pages of his Memoir, we feel our- 
selves like a person who has entered a venerable mansion, to the occupant 
of which he is about to be introduced, but while his host is preparing to re- 
ceive him, he is ushered into a gallery hung with family portraits, the origi- 
nals of which, their names and histories, are detailed more or less minutely by 
some one in attendance, till, by the time the master of the house appears, 
the stranger feels himself measurably acquainted with the whole circle. The 
mother of Heinrich, one of the choicest spirits of the group, died in the early 
childhood of her son, and the care of his tender years devolved henceforward 
upon the widowed father. His management, though prompted by a conscien- 
tious desire to discharge his every duty as a Christian parent, was not of the 
happiest influence upon the finely-moulded character of the child. His sanc- 
tity was stern and severe, and a certain coldness of demeanor tended to chill 
the gushingly genial and affectionate nature of young Heinrich. He was a 
boy of vivid imagination, of exquisite nervous organization, of great sensi- 
bility, and a spirit that required a more delicate tact in developing his peculiar 
genius than his honest and pious father possessed. For some years after the 
death of the gentle Doris, his wife, the endeavors of Wilhelm Stilling, the 
father (says the son in his Memoir), " were directed, first, to the supply of his t 
necessities, by means of his trade as a tailor; for he gave a considerable sum \ 
weekly to his parents for the board of himself and his child ; next, to quench 
every inclination of the heart which had not reference to eternity ; and finally, ^ 
also to educate his son in the same principles, which he imagined to be true 
and firmly founded. He rose at four o'clock in the morning, and began his 
work; at seven he awoke his little Heinrich, and reminded him in a familiar 
manner of the goodness of God, who had watched over him, by bis angetei 
during the night. ' Thank him for it, my child,' said Wilhelm, while dressing 
the boy. When this was done, he was made to wash himself with cold water, 
and Wilhelm then took him with him, shut the room-door, and fell on his 



xviii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

knees with him at the bedside, and prayed with the utmost fervor of spirit to 
God, during which the tears often flowed copiously to the ground. The boy 
then had his breakfast, which he was obliged to take with as much decorum 
and order as if he had been eating in the presence of a prince. He had after- 
ward to read a small portion of the catechism, and gradually learn it by rote ; 
he was also permitted to read old and pleasing tales, adapted to the capacity 
of a child ; some of which were religious, and others of a worldly nature, such 
as 'The Emperor Octavian, with his Wife and Son;' 'The History of the 
Four Children of Haymon ;' « The Beautiful Melusina,' and the like. Wil- 
helm never permitted the boy to play with other children ; but kept him so 
secluded, that in the seventh year of his age he knew none of the neighbors' 
children, though well acquainted with a whole row of fine books. Hence it 
was, that his whole soul began to delight in that which was ideal ; his imagi- 
nation was excited, because itTiad no other objects than ideal persons and 
actions. The heroes of old romance, whose virtues were described in an exag- 
gerated manner, fixed themselves imperceptibly in his mind as so many objects 
worthy of imitation, and vice was in the highest degree repugnant to him. 
But because he was continually hearing of God and pious men, he was im- 
perceptibly placed in a peculiar point of view, whence he observed everything. 
The first thing he inquired after, when he had read or heard of any one, had 
reference to his sentiments toward God and Christ. Hence, when he had 
once obtained Gotfried Arnold's 'Lives of the Primitive Fathers,' he could 
not cease from reading it; and this book, together with Reitz's 'History of 
the Regenerate,' continued his chief delight till the tenth year of his age ; but 
all these persons, whose biography he read, remained so firmly idealized in his 
imagination, that he never forgot them during his whole life." 

Some idea of the peculiar mould of his temperament may be gained from 
the account of his first attendance upon public worship in the little church at 
Florenburgh : " He was astonished at everything he saw ; but as soon as the 
organ began to play, his sensations became too powerful, and he was slightly 
convulsed. Every soft harmony melted him ; the minor keys caused his tears 
to flow, and the rapid allegro made him spring up. However indifferently the 
good organist understood his trade, Wilhelm found it, notwithstanding, impos- 
sible to prevent his son, after the sermon, from going to look at the organist 
and his organ. He saw them; and the virtuoso, to please him, played an 
andante, which was perhaps the first time that this had ever been done in the 
church at Florenburgh to please a peasant's boy." 

His schoolboy days soon followed, and, as might be inferred from the prom- 
ise involved in the traits that marked his childhood, an unquenchable thirst 
of knowledge displayed itself, forbidding him to rest contented till he had 
attained a finished education. His father favored the promptings of the boy 
so far as to put him at the learning of Latin, in which he made rapid progress. 
" It may easily be imagined," says the Memoir, in which he always speaks of 
himself in the third person, " what attention he excited among the other 
schoolboys. He was known merely in Selling's house and garden, and had 
never been among other children. His speeches were always uncommon, 
and few persons understood what he meant. No youthful games, of which 
boys are generally so fond, affected him ; he passed by, and saw them not." 

Circumstances in his father's lot changed ere long, and the period arrived 



J. H. JUNG-STILLING. xix 

when Heinrich was compelled to leave the Latin-school, and assist his parent 
in his trade. This was, however, a great trial to the lad ; " he lived only 
among his books, and it always seemed to him that time enough was not 
afforded him for reading ; on which account he had an indescribable lonsring 
to become a schoolmaster. This was, in his eyes, the most honorab'e station 
he ever expected to attain. The thought of becoming a preacher was too far 
beyond his sphere. But when he sometimes soared on high, imagined him- 
self in the pulpit, and then reflected what a happiness it would be to spend a 
whole life surrounded by books, his heart enlarged — delight pervaded him, 
and then it sometimes occurred to him that God did not create this impulse 
in him in vain ; therefore said he, ' I will be quiet. He will lead me, and I 
will follow him.' " 

He was indeed led in the most signal manner by the Divine Providence, 
but not to the attainment of this particular object of his desire. He was des- 
tined to become, in outward vocation, a physician of the body and not of the 
soul, and even this goal was reached only through a series of the most won- 
derful trials of his faith and patience for a long course of years, which, how- 
ever, were invariably succeeded by some interposition of the Divine hand put 
forth in his extremity, and having the most signal tokens of being vouchsafed 
in answer to prayer. This feature of his history gives it almost the air of a 
succession of miracles. Of this the reader can judge from the following 
account, given mostly in his own language, of his entrance into the university 
of Strasburg, whither he went to gain an education, without a dollar in his 
pocket, and trusting with childlike simplicity in the providing care of his 
heavenly Father : — 

A friend, he represents, says to him : u My dear Stilling. I am heartily con- 
cerned for you, and most gladly would I provide you with money if I were 
able, but it is impossible." 

" Hear me, my dear friend," answered Stilling, with a cheerful courage 
and a joyful mien ; '• I do not wish a single farthing from you : believe assu- 
redly, that He who was able to feed five thousand people with a Little bread, 
still lives, and to him I commit myself; he will certainly find out means. Do 
not. therefore, be anxious ; the Lord will provide." 

Two days before his departure for the university, he had in the world but 
a single rix-dollar remaining. He said nothing of it to any one, but waited 
for the assistance of his heavenly Father. However, notwithstanding his 
courage, he was still uneasy, and walked about and prayed inwardly to God. 
Meanwhile he happened to reach the Romesberg, and there met with a mer- 
chant from Schonenthal, who was a friend of his, by the name of Liebmann, 
who invited Stilling to sup with him in his lodgings. 

After supper, Mr. Liebmann began as follows : " Tell me, my friend, who 
furnishes you with the money to enable you to study !" Stilling smiled, and 
answered, " I have a rich Father in heaven : lie will provide for me." Mr. 
Liebmann looked at him and continued, " How much have you at present 1" 
Stilling answered, " One rix-dollar, and that is all."' — •' So," rejoined Liebmann, 
"I am one of your Father's stewards, and will therefore now act the paymas- 
ter." So saying, he handed over thirty-three rix-dollars to Stilling, and said, 
"I can not at present spare any more ; if you are subsequently able to return 
me the money, well — if not, it is no matter." 



xx BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

Thus provided for, Stilling made his arrangements at the university, and 
entered with eagerness upon his studies. When his thirty-three rix-dollars 
had melted down to a single one, he began again, as he relates, to pray fer- 
vently to God. God heard and answered him : for just in the time of need, 
an able and experienced surgeon, of his acquaintance, said to him one morn- 
ing : " You have brought, I believe, no money with you. I will lend you six 
Carolines (about five pounds sterling) until you receive a remittance." Al- 
though Stilling knew not from what quarter a remittance was to come, yet he 
gratefully accepted the kindness. 

A very important course of medical lectures was now announced, and 
those desirous of attending them invited. This being the principal thing with 
Stilling, he presented himself with the others to subscribe on Monday evening. 
He had no idea but that these lectures would be paid for like the others, after 
they were ended ; but how was he dismayed when the doctor announced that 
the gentlemen would please to pay six louis-d'ors each the following Thurs- 
day evening ! Now if Stilling did not pay on the day fixed, his name would 
be struck out. This would have been disgraceful, and would have weakened 
the credit which he absolutely required. As soon, therefore, as he had entered 
his room, he shut the door, threw himself upon his knees, and wrestled ear- 
nestly with God for aid and compassion. The Thursday evening, however, 
arrived, without anything of a consoling nature manifesting itself. It was 
already five o'clock, and six was the hour when he ought to have the money. 
Sailing's faith began to fail ; he broke out into a perspiration with anxiety, 
and his face was wet with tears. While he was pacing the floor in his dis- 
tress, some one knocked at the door. He called out, " Come in !" It was his 
landlord, Mr. R . He entered the room, and, after the customary saluta- 
tions, began : " I am come to see how you are, and whether you are satisfied 
with your lodging." Stilling professed himself perfectly satisfied with his ac- 
commodations, and Mr. R rejoined : " But one thing I am desirous of 

inquiring of you — have you brought money with you, or do you expect bills !" 
Stilling replied, " No, I have brought no money." 

Mr. R stood and looked at him fixedly, and said, " For God's sake, 

how will you be able to proceed V Stilling answered, " My friend Mr. T 

has lent me something." — "But he requires his money himself," said Mr. 

R . " I will advance you money, as much as you need, and when you 

receive your remittance you need only give the bill to me, that you may have 
no trouble in disposing of it. Are you in want of any money at present"!" 
Stilling could scarcely refrain from crying out ; however, he restrained himself 
so as not to show his feelings. 

" Yes," said he, " I have need of six louis-d'ors this evening, and I was at 
a loss—" 

Mr. R was shocked, and replied: "Yes, I dare say you are. I now 

see that God has sent me to your assistance," and went out of the room. The 
good man brought eight louis-d'ors, and handed them to him, and then went 
away. 

A fortnight after, he received, quite unexpectedly, a letter containing a 
bill for three hundred rix-dollars, a joint present from two friends. Stilling 
laughed aloud, placed himself against the window, cast a joyful look toward 
heaven, and said, " This is only possible with thee, thou Almighty Father : 



J. H. JUNG-STILLING. xxi 

may my whole life be devoted to thy praise !" He now paid the various 
friends who had assisted him, and had enough left to get through the winter 
at Strasburg. These anecdotes are related as nearly as possible in the words 
of the autobiography, and are a fair specimen of the whole spirit of the book. 

He says also of himself at this time : u In the sphere in which Stilling now 
moved, he had daily temptation enough to become a skeptic in religion. He 
had heard every day new reasons against the Bible, and against Christianity, 
and against the principles of the Christian religion. All the proofs he had 
hitherto collected, which had always hitherto tranquillized him, were no longer 
sufficient to satisfy his inflexible reason ; the trials of faith alone, of which he 
had already experienced so many in the dealings of Divine Providence with 
him, made him quite invincible. He therefore concluded as follows : He who 
so obviously hears the prayers of men, and guides their destinies so wonder- 
fully and visibly, must be the true God, and his doctrine the word of God. 
Now, I have ever adored and worshipped Jesus Christ as my God and Savior. 
He has heard me in the hour of need, and has wonderfully supported and suc- 
cored me. Consequently, Jesus Christ is incontestably the true God, and his 
doctrine the word of God, and his religion the true religion." 

To those who may still feel disposed to be incredulous as to the facts 
here related, we would say that Stilling's was not an isolated case. The life 
of his companion and friend, the celebrated Lavater, abounded with incidents 
of the same kind ; and there is still standing at Halle a vast edifice where 
thousands of orphans are yearly fed, clothed, and educated, all built by a sin- 
gle man, without so much as the capital of a single dollar. The workmen of 
this vast building were paid regularly every Saturday night ; yet the builder 
had never at the beginning of the week any knowledge of the quarter whence 
the supply was to come : yet, at the time when needed, money in various 
ways was always sent to him, sufficient for his necessities. The statue of 
this man, Hermann Augustus Franke, stands in the centre square of these 
buildings, placed there by order of the late king of Prussia — a monument of 
the power of faith in God. 

The circumstances of his acquaintance and marriage with his first wife, 
related by him with inimitable naivete, illustrate that feature of his lifelong 
experience in the most remarkable manner : — 

" Mr. Friedenberg had a daughter, who was the eldest of his children, 
and about that time in her twenty-first year. This young lady had loved 
quietness and retirement from her youth, and she was therefore reserved tow- 
ard all strangers, particularly when they were better dressed than she was 
accustomed to. Although this circumstance, as it regarded Stilling, was not 
an obstacle, yet she avoided him as much as she could, so that he saw her 
very seldom. Her whole occupation, from her youth up, had consisted in 
those domestic employments which were suited to her sphere of life, and the 
necessary instruction of the Christian religion according to the evangelical 
Lutheran confession, together with reading and writing; in a word, she was 
a pretty, agreeable young girl, who had never mixed with the world, so as to 
be able to live according to the fashion, but whose good disposition richly rec- 
ompensed for the want of all these insignificant trifles in the estimation of a 
man of integrity." 

Stilling assures his readers that he had not particularly remarked this yotmg 



xxii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

lady in preference to the other children of his friend, nor was he conscious of 
any special drawing toward her that looked to a serious issue. An unex- 
pected incident, however, disclosed to hoth parties a latent and dormant germ 
of affection of which both were previously unconscious. This amiable girl, 
whose name was Christina, had been for some time very ill, and her physi- 
cians scarcely hoped for her recovery. Stilling happened at this juncture to 
make a visit to her father, by whom he was requested to stand sponsor at the 
baptism of an infant child ; and, of course, made anxious inquiries respecting 
the patient, without dreaming of an opportunity of seeing her in her apart- 
ment. "That evening, however, after the christening was over, Mr. Frieden- 
berg filled his long pipe, and said to the new sponsor, « Will it afford you 
pleasure for once to visit my sick daughter? I wish to know what you will 
say of her. You have already more knowledge of diseases than many.' Stil- 
ling consented, and they went up stairs into the invalid's chamber. She lay 
in bed, weak and poorly; yet still she had much cheerfulness of spirit. She 
raised herself up, gave Stilling her hand, and asked him to sit down. Both 
sat down, therefore, at the table, near the bed. Christina did not now feel 
ashamed in the presence of Stilling, but conversed with him on a variety of 
religious topics. She became very cheerful and sociable. She was often sub- 
ject to attacks of a serious nature, so that some one was obliged to sit up with 
her all night ; another reason for which was, because she could not sleep much. 
When they had sat a while with her, and were about to leave her, the sick 
damsel requested her father's permission for Stilling to sit up with her that 
night, along with her elder brother. Mr. Friedenberg willingly consented, but 
with the condition that Stilling had no objection to it. The latter was glad 
to show this piece of friendship to the patient as well as to the family. He 
betook himself, therefore, in the evening, with the eldest son, about nine 
o'clock, to her chamber. They both sat down at the table near the bed, and 
spoke with her on a variety of subjects in order to pass the time ; they also 
read aloud to her at intervals. 

" About one o'clock in the morning, the invalid requested her two compan- 
ions to be quiet a little while, as she thought she should be able to sleep. 
Accordingly, they were so. Young Mr. Friedenberg, meanwhile, stole down 
stairs, in order to prepare some coffee ; but continuing absent some time, Stil- 
ling began to nod in his chair. About an hour after, the patient again began 
to move. Stilling drew the curtains a little asunder, and asked her how she 
had slept. She answered : ' I have Iain in a kind of stupor. I will tell you 
something, Mr. Stilling ! I have received a very lively impression on my 
mind, respecting a subject which, however, I must not mention to you till 
another time.' At these words, Stilling was powerfully struck; he felt from 
head to foot a trepidation he had never before experienced, and all at once a 
beam of light penetrated through his soul like lightning. It was evident to 
his mind what the will of God was, and what the words of the sick maiden 
signified. With tears in his eyes he arose, bent over the bed, and said, 'I 
know, dear miss, what impression you have received, and what the will of 
God is.' She raised herself up, stretched out her hand, and replied, ' Do you 
know it?' Stilling put his right hand into hers, and said: 'May God in 
heaven bless us ; we arc eternally united!' She answered: 'Yes! — eter- 
nally so !' 



J. H. JUNG-STILLING. xxiii 

" Her brother now came and brought the coffee, placed it upon the table, 
and all three partook of it. The invalid was quite as tranquil as before ; she 
was neither more joyful nor more sorrowful ; just as if nothing particular had 
happened. But Stilling was like one intoxicated: he knew not whether he 
was waking or dreaming ; he could neither think nor reflect upon this unheard- 
of event. However, he felt in his soul an indescribably tender inclination 
toward the dear invalid, so that he could joyfully have sacrificed his life for 
her, if it had been requisite; and this pure flame was as if, without being kin- 
dled, a fire had fallen from heaven upon his heart; for certainly his Christina 
had at that time neither charms nor the will to charm; and he himself was 
in such a situation that he shuddered at the thought of marrying. But, as 
aforesaid, he was stupified, and could not reflect upon his situation until the 
following morning, while he was returning home. He previously took a 
tender leave of Christina, on which occasion he expressed his fears : but she 
was quite confident in the matter, and added, ' God has certainly commenced 
this affair, and he will as certainly finish it !' " 

During his absence he wrote an affectionate letter to Christina, which was 
read by her parents ; and when the whole story came to their knowledge, 
although they were somewhat dubious of the result, yet on the whole they 
felt that they had no adequate objections to offer, and the young couple were 
permitted to consider themselves as henceforth pledged to each other in the 
bonds of an irrevocable covenant. 

The union commenced under these singular auspices was consummated by 
marriage, at the bedside of Christina, on the 17th of June, 1771. It was 
not, however, of long continuance, as she died at the close of ten years from 
their nuptials, after having suffered from broken health for nearly the whole 
time. But the connection was still a happy one — his affectionate wife 
proving a source of ineffable comfort and encouragement to him during the 
long course of struggles that yet remained for him ; for the warfare of afflic- 
tion seemed to be with Stilling that from which there was no discharge till 
near the close of his life, when the " silver side of the cloud" was turned to 
the grateful eye of the sufferer, and his sun went down serene and majestic, 
an earnest of the eternal sunlit day which awaited his translation into a 
brighter sphere. 

Stilling married twice after the death of his first beloved ; and though the 
circumstances were not of the same romantic interest in the two latter cases, 
yet they were still in keeping with the peculiar genius of the man, and what 
we may term the general style of Providential dispensation which marked his 
lot through life. 

It is not consistent with the design of a brief sketch like the present to 
follow our hero through all the varied incidents of his life, or to enumerate 
or characterize his voluminous literary labors. Suffice it to say, that the 
humble peasant-boy of Westphalia, the son of a tailor, and a tailor himself, 
gradually rose from one stage of repute and vocation to another, till he became 
professor of the universities of Heidelburg and Marburg, and private aulic- 
counsellor to the grand-duke of Baden. 

His death took place April 2, 1817, in the bosom of his family, and in the 
ripeness of his honors. The profound and humble piety which had distin- 
guished his earlier and his maturor years was but the laying in of a stock of 



xxiv BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF STILLING. 

substantial peace and consolation in his dying hours. The final conflict, owing 
to the nature of his disease, was somewhat severe, so that in the midst of his 
excruciating spasms he would exclaim, " Strength, thou Conqueror of death !" 
— but his patience and fortitude throughout were beautiful. Once, and a sec- 
ond time, it seemed as if evil spirits sought to discompose his noble counte- 
nance ; but his striking features soon returned to their dignity and benignity : 
and heavenly purity sat enthroned on his face, when at noontide, amid the 
cheering beams of a vernal sun, his sweet spirit was exhaled to the bosom of 
the Infinite Father. 

Thou Love unspeakable and kind, 

The element in which I move, 
Behold with what a flame refined 

My heart burns in thy precious love ! 
A nothing in the dust was I ; 

Yet thou, my All ! mad'st choice of me, 
My growing faith thou long didst try, 

And my desires laid hold of thee 

Giver of every perfect gift ! 

Thou foundst me in the lowly cot, 
And kindly from the dust didst lift 

And raise me to a happier lot. 
For thou didst hear a father's cry; 

A mother's prayers touched thy heart ; 
And power and spirit from on high 

To me didst graciously impart. 

Upon the golden scales of fate 

My sufferings though didst nicely weigh ; 
Appoint my days their final date 

When I must thy last call obey; 
Didst form, e'en then, the plan sublime 

Of what my future course should be , 
The path didst show which I must climb 

To reach my final destiny 

Thus did I journey on my way, 

Through many a winding up and down, 
When, suddenly, a cheering ray 

Beamed on my path — my load was gone ! 
My Leader, with a powerful arm, 

The burden from my shoulder took, 
And, with a look that grief might charm, 

He plunged it in the flowing brook. 

Following the footsteps of my Guide, 

I walked more easy on my way, 
Until, at length, a brilliant light 

Announced the near approach of day. 
It came — the golden morning came — 

And all my anxious fears were fled ; 
I now have reached my blissful aim, 

And loudly shall my thanks be paid 

Heinrich Stilling. 



AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 



If we take a retrospective view of the history of mankind, 
from the present period up to the earliest ages, we shall find 
that it is increasingly interwoven with the influence of super or 
sub-human good or evil beings : beings, whose existence as 
well as whose actions seem to have no appropriate plan in the 
chain of sensible nature, and yet have been believed in by every 
nation upon earth, down to the present time. 

The observation, that all these beings adapt themselves pre- 
cisely to the character and degree of culture of the people by 
whom they are believed, honored, or abhorred, is at the same 
time both very just and remarkable. If we compare the my- 
thology of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, with 
the wild romances of the Icelandic Edda, the grotesque labyrinth 
of the mythology of Brama, and the abominations of the ancient 
Mexicans, we shall find that the deities of each of these nations 
were, so to speak, their countrymen. The good conducted 
themselves precisely according to the manners of those that were 
esteemed the better class, and the wicked practised that which 
was regarded as vicious. 

This observation gives some shadow of probability to the 
present prevailing idea among rationalists, that all these beings 
have, at no period and in no nation, been anything else than a 
dream, a deception of the imagination, and a fable, and that 
they are so still ; but that this is nothing more or less than a 
shadow, may be easily proved. Let the following question be 
calmly, impartially, and conscientiously considered and inves- 
tigated. 



2 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 

" Can the human imagination conceive or create anything for 
which it has no materials V 9 Every honest rational thinker will 
answer, " No ; it can not possibly form an image of that which 
does not strike the senses." It, therefore, incontestably follows 
hence, that mankind never would have had even a distant pre- 
sentiment of an invisible world of spirits, of the continuation 
of our existence after death, of good and evil spirits, and of 
deities, if that which is above sense had not revealed itself to 
sense. Why is it that we know nothing of an animal world of 
spirits ? Why is the reappearance of friendly domestic animals 
never spoken of? Naturally because such a world never man- 
ifested itself to man. But where is there such a revelation of 
the rational world of spirits to be found, on the statements of 
which we can safely depend, and on the certainty of which, irre- 
versible systems may be founded ? 

The genuine Israelite and the true-believing Christian imme- 
diately and with confidence reply, " In the Bible !"* True : 
but the public, for whom I write, consists of parties, whose ideas 
of this holy document, are much at variance. 

The first of these parties receives, without hesitation, all that 
is said in the Bible, as the word of God ; and yet this party is 
likewise divided into two distinct classes. The individuals, who 
compose the first class, adhere firmly to the articles of faith of 
the protestant church, and while they believe all the appearan- 
ces from the invisible world, which are related in the Bible, 
reject everything of this nature subsequent to the times of the 
apostles ; and when undeniable facts are adduced, ascribe them 
to a delusion of Satan and his angels, rather than retract any- 
thing from their system. 

Those that belong to the other class not only believe all the 
supernatural appearances related in the Bible, but also the con- 
tinuation of them down to the present time. But they generally 
run too far into the other extreme, by regarding as supernatu- 
ral, all those effects of the imagination, or even of material na- 
ture, which are not comprehensible by the understandings of the 
generality of men ; and especially by attaching more value and 
* See Note 1. 



AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 3 

importance to appearances from the invisible world, than belong 
to them. The latter point forms a particular part of my object 
in the present undertaking ; I beg the reader to keep it in view. 

The second of these parties divests the Holy Scriptures of all 
oriental embellishments, for thus they denominate all those im- 
ages', for which their enlightened reason can find no place in 
the storehouse of their brain, because they do not suit its furni- 
ture. They give tolerable credence to the abstract history of 
the Bible, under the superintendence, however, of their rational 
criticism ; but morals and morality they regard as the chief 
thing, whenever the Divine Revelation is the subject of discourse. 

Finally, the third party believes neither in the Bible nor in an 
invisible world ; it is to them a matter of indifference, whether, 
and in what manner they shall continue to exist after death ; 
their element is intellectual knowledge and the pleasures of 
sense, and they reject that which is not capable of elucidation 
from the former and its approximate principles. This is prop- 
erly the dominant party in the present day ; the spirit of the 
times is the deity that guides them in all their actions, and that 
philosophy, which is continually changing like the fashion is his 
revelation ; belief, even of the most credible things is entirely 
out of the question. 

The intention of this work extends itself to all these four par- 
ties, and it would be well if it were attained. The undertaking 
is difficult; but as during my long and remarkable life, I have 
had a multitude of opportunities of making all kinds of obser- 
vations ; as an over-ruling Providence has likewise so guided 
me, that I have found the key to phenomena of a very myste- 
rious nature ; and as, lastly, I have been called upon to publish 
my theory by an illustrious personage, to whom I can refuse 
nothing', because all his wishes are noble and good — I therefore 
hazard it in God's name, and entreat all my readers to examine 
the work with calmness and an unprejudiced mind. I believe 
that it contains a word in season ; as at present there are sin- 
gular manifestations in various places, by which the well-mean- 
ing may be led astray from the pursuit of the one thing needful, 
into by-roads and errors. 



4 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 

I shall therefore show the first of these parties, that among a 
thousand dreams, deceptions, fables, and fantastic tales, there 
still continue to be some true and undeniable presentiments, 
visions, and apparitions of spirits, with which Satan and his 
angels have nothing to do. The enormous abuse, which the 
Romish church practised with these things from the very eom- 
mencement, induced the Reformers to set bounds to it by arti- 
cles of faith ; but experience teaches that they have wandered, 
though less dangerously, yet quite as far on the opposite direc- 
tion from the truth, which calmly pursues her radiant path be- 
tween the two extremes. 

1 will prove to the second party, that there are very many 
important and apparently inexplicable phenomena, the causes 
of which they seek in the world of spirits, or even in Divine in- 
fluence, but which are founded solely in human nature, whose 
depths have not yet been sufficiently displayed, and perhaps 
never will be wholly discovered. This mistake of these well- 
meaning, but not sufficiently instructed people, has given rise to 
the most monstrous fanaticism, and the most lamentable results. 
Hence sects have arisen, which have been a shame and disgrace 
to the pure religion of Christ ; for instances of which, I refer 
the reader to a work of mine called " Theobald, or the Enthu- 
siasts." 

The third and fourth parties mutually agree in believing 
nothing of all this, but declare that it is all either a delusion and 
deceit, or the operation of some secret powers of human na- 
ture, hitherto concealed from us. But as, notwithstanding all 
this, there are nevertheless facts, the certainty of which can not 
be denied, they venture explanations, which are so absurd, that 
as Kcestner once said, " If they were true, they would be still 
more wonderful, than what they seek to explain away." 

All these incredulous people are actuated by three different 
motives. 

The first is, that system of materialism which they lay as the 
foundation of their elucidation, both with regard to the whole 
of the sensible world and the corporeal powers of nature and 
spirit, and which they hold as irreversibly true. 



AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 5 

The second has superstition and its destruction for its object. 
The most senseless explanations are hazarded, and, with per- 
mission be it spoken, even lies, when they no more know how 
to help themselves, if they can only thereby give a mortal thrust 
to what they consider as superstition. But what is supersti- 
tion ] What is enthusiasm 1 At one end of the chain, the re- 
ligion of Jesus in its highest purity, is enthusiastic superstition : 
at the other end stands the most senseless, and the wildest rev- 
eries in the place of truth ! That holy guide through the ob- 
scure path of this life, which is intersected with so many cross- 
roads, you, my dear readers, will surely find, if with an unprej- 
udiced and resigned mind, that loves the truth, you do not gape 
and grasp at that which is wonderful and extraordinary, nor seek 
to unfathom the hidden mysteries of the unseen world, but only 
to win the glorious prize, and to know nothing but Jesus Christ 
and him crucified. Should there anything ever occur to you 
from the hidden and mysterious world, act toward it according 
to the rules which I shall lay before you in this book, and then 
pursue your path without lingering long at the consideration of 
such objects. 

The third motive is finally of such a nature that we pity it, 
and calmly hasten past it. Presentiments, visions, and appari- 
tions of spirits, testify of an invisible world of spirits, which is 
the abode of departed souls, and of good and evil angels and 
spirits. They prove the existence of the soul after death, with 
the full consciousness of its present existence, and the recollec- 
tion of the whole of its past earthly life ; and besides this, also, 
the great truth of rewards and punishments after death. But 
this is an eye-sore to certain people ; they are well aware what 
kind of fate awaits them, if what is said above be true. There 
are some, who suppose a kind of continuation of their thinking 
part ; yet they do not believe in the recollection of their earthly 
life, but dream of an entirely new existence, which is a degree 
nobler and better than the present, and on which the life they 
have led here has no influence. But the whole of this idea ifl 
just as worthless as that of total annihilation after death ; for 
if I am unable to remember anything whatever of my present 

1* 



6 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION. 

life, its various events, my wife, and children, and friends, my 
weaknesses, and my good actions : I am no longer the same 
person, but quite another being. May God graciously preserve 
us from such a future state ! and eternal praise and thanks be 
ascribed unto him that the Bible, the universal judgment of all 
nations in every age, and continual unquestionable experience 
testify directly to the contrary. 

All the ideas of persons of this class, are inferences, the prin- 
ciples of which are founded on materialism. My first attempt 
shall therefore be to ascend, destroy, and demolish, this strong 
and dangerous hold of infidelity. 



PNEI7MAT0L0GY. 

CHAPTER I. 

MATERIALISM EXAMINED AND REFUTED. 

Among all nations, tongues, and languages, from the begin- 
ning of the world until now, there has not been one which de- 
nied presentiments, visions, and apparitions ; on the contrary, 
if here and there an individual appeared, who was so would-be 
wise and rational as to believe nothing of all this, he was ab- 
horred as an atheist, who, after this life, might expect severe 
punishment. Of the many abominable deceptions, delusions, and 
horrible superstitions, which were united with the pure and sim- 
ple truth, particularly among the heathen nations, history fur- 
nishes us with the most frightful examples. Our adorable Re- 
deemer, Jesus Christ, then appeared, and became a universal 
blessing to mankind. He and his disciples taught divine truth 
in its purity, and everywhere strove against superstition and the 
errors of Jews and heathens, but they did not oppose the belief 
in presentiments, visions, and apparitions ; on the contrary, 
they relate, that they had themselves experienced things of a 
similar nature. I do not think I need stop here to quote any 
instances of this, as they will naturally occur to my readers. 

The idea which the universal Christian church formed, from 
the very commencement, of presentiments, visions, and appari- 
tions, was principally founded upon the following view of the 
subject. They believed generally in an invisible world of spir- 
its, which was divided into three different regions : heaven, or 
the place of blessedness — hell, or the place of torment — mid 



8 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

then a third place, which the Bible calls " hades," or the recep- 
tacle of the dead, in which those souls, which were not ripe for 
either destination, are fully made meet for that to which they have 
most adapted themselves in this life * But all these regions had 
likewise their inhabitants : heaven, which they imagined to be 
on high, above the stars, was the seat of the supreme majesty 
of God, and its citizens were the hosts of angels and blessed 
spirits : hell was situated in the inward concavity of the earth, 
whither Satan, with his angels, will be finally banished, when he 
has finished his part upon earth, and it will then be also the 
abode of the accursed of mankind. The idea they formed of 
the system of the universe, was the following : — 

They believed that the earth was the principal object of ma- 
terial nature ; that the sun and every radiant star, which they 
regarded as nothing else than rarefied bodies of light, existed 
for the earth's sake, and all of these together for man's sake. 
To the stars they ascribed a great influence on the earth and its 
inhabitants ; and they regarded them as the instruments by which 
God governed physical and moral nature. According to their 
ideas Nature stood in the centre of the universe, and all heaven 
with all its majesty, was obliged to revolve round the earth in 
twenty-four hours. 

With respect to the invisible world, they believed, not only 
that Satan with his angels resided in the air, and had a great and 
mighty influence over mankind, but also that the holy angels 
were with and about the human race, that they protected them, 
and also had influence over them ; that departed souls accord- 
ing to their peculiar circumstances might again appear, was with 
them beyond a doubt. 

The Bible has nothing to object to the views adopted by the 
universal Christian church, and the Aristotelian and Platonic 
philosophy of the schools which then universally governed the 
reason of the learned, was also perfectly contented with it.f 
And if here and there a clear-sighted individual who thought for 
himself, found this or that point impossible, or some fervent 
gnostic on the other side introduced still more impossibilities 
* For a full explanation of this subject, see note 5. t See note 2. 






MATERIALISM EXAMINED. 9 

into this system of the universe and of spirits, it occasioned a 
paper war and a charge of heresy, but the principal ideas still 
continued to stand firmly and canonically in both churches, the 
eastern Greek, and the western Latin or Romish, and with them, 
presentiments, visions, and apparitions, which they all ascribed 
to the Spirit of God, to angels, and also to departed souls. 

But ere long, particularly after the age of Constantine the 
Great, the clergy gradually forgot Christ's golden precept — 
" Let the greatest among you be as the least, and he that will 
bear rule, let him be as a servant." In opposition to this, they 
assumed increasing honors, and even strove for the universal 
government of the world. But having no worldly weapons, or 
at least very feeble ones, they forged themselves spiritual arms, 
and the invisible world presented them an inexhaustible ar- 
mory : they assumed power even over evil spirits, and could 
cast them out ; for when any one was afflicted with a disorder 
of a complicated nature, which the physicians could not ex- 
plain, it was supposed he was possessed of the devil, and the 
priest must be sent for to cast him out. There were also 
witches and wizards, whom none could restrain, and whose 
influence none could withstand but the priests. Hades, which 
had been hitherto in itself an abode devoid of suffering, unless 
the individual brought anguish and torment in his own bosom 
into it, was now transformed into a fiery furnace, in which every 
departed soul, that had not rendered itself worthy of canoniza- 
tion (to which often nothing more was requisite than a mere 
blind obedience, an outward self-righteousness, and a persecu- 
ting of heretics), must of necessity be purified, like gold and 
silver. Now this was a particularly potent means of bringing 
even the mightiest monarchs, with all their hosts, and every 
Christian nation, into obedience to the clergy ; for the latter 
asserted, and it was universally believed, that they really had 
the keys of purgatory, and that by prayers and masses for the 
dead, for which they took care to be well paid, they were able 
to deliver the poor soul from it, and to assist it in the attain- 
ment of the bliss of heaven. 

These, and many other additional motives, made it a matter 



10 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

of importance to the clergy, invariably to treat the powerful 
influence of the invisible world upon mankind as one of the 
most important points of faith. And here we arrive at the 
principal source of the most senseless and revolting supersti- 
tion, which certainly deserves to be rooted out. But this is 
not accomplished by refusing to give credence to undeniable 
facts, but by stating the sacred truth in its genuine purity. 

The Christian system of the spiritual and material world, 
described above, stood for fifteen hundred years unshaken. 
All at once, the monk Copernicus stood forth ! With a mighty 
hand, he pushed away the globe from the centre of creation, 
fixed the sun in its place, and bade the former make the circuit 
of the latter in a year, and revolve upon its own axis in twenty- 
four hours. By this fortunate discovery, much that was incom- 
prehensible became intelligible, and much that was inexplica- 
ble, demonstrable. The pope and the clergy were struck with 
amazement at it : they threatened curse and excommunication, 
but Copernicus had already made his escape from them ; the 
earth was now in motion, and no anathema was able to arrest 
its progress. The consequences of the Copernican system have 
proved that the censure and apprehension of the Romish clergy 
were well founded : for now every fixed star was by degrees 
regarded as a sun, all of which were probably accompanied by 
their planets, and consequently the earth became a very incon- 
siderable point in the immense and boundless universe. But 
whether this system of the world, so generally received, be not 
still susceptible of some modification, will be seen in the subse- 
quent part of this work. 

During this period, Luther and his confederates had also 
accomplished a mighty revolution in religion, with respect to 
the articles of faith of the Christian church. The Holy Scrip- 
tures again became the sole criterion of faith and conduct, and 
the clergy of the protestant church renounced all claim to the 
government of the invisible world : they extinguished the flames 
of purgatory, and enlarged the bounds of hell by adding hades 
to it ; no middle state or place of purification was any longer 
believed in, but every departed soul entered immediately upon 






MATERIALISM EXAMINED. 11 

the place of its destination, either heaven or hell. I shall show, 
in its proper place, that they carried this point too far : it was 
wrong to make a purgatory of hades, but it was also going too 
far to do away with it together with purgatory. The protestant 
clergy, as such, troubled themselves, in other respects, little 
about the Copernican system. It was regarded as a subject, 
which could have little influence upon the doctrines of the 
Christian faith ; but they were mistaken : for succeeding as- 
tronomers investigated this system still further, and found that 
it everywhere stood the test. At length those great men, Des- 
cartes, Newton, and others, appeared, who, by their inventions 
and discoveries, definitely decided the point ; so that the Co- 
pernican system is now established beyond all contradiction, in 
the opinion of the learned, particularly because all the calcula- 
tions on the course of the stars, made according to this system, 
are found to be most correct. 

The pope and his consistory probably only foreboded that 
this Copernican system of the universe might be injurious to 
the Christian faith ; but it was now gradually evident that they 
had not been deceived. The following ideas now necessarily 
occurred to the consistent reasoner : " Earth, with its inhabit- 
ants, can not possibly be the chief object of creation : it is only 
an inconsiderable little planet, a point in the immense universe : 
the other splendid and capacious heavenly bodies must have 
much more value in the eyes of the Creator, and their inhabit- 
ants must likewise possess many advantages over the human 
race. Can it therefore be that the Son of God, the Logos, by 
whom the universe was created, took upon himself human na- 
ture, in this remote and inconsiderable corner of creation, and 
ennobled and elevated it to the throne of all worlds? The 
whole invisible world must therefore now make, with the earth, 
the annual circuit round the sun," &c. 

I entreat my readers not to let themselves be misled by these 
specious arguments. I will point out to them, in the sequel, an 
immutable basis, which is in accordance with nature, reason, 
and the Bible, and on which their faith may rest unshaken, until 
at length we all attain to sight. 



12 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

The clergy either gave themselves no concern about all this, 
or sought to combine it, as well as they could, with the doc- 
trines of the church. The Roman catholic hierarchy continued 
their dominion over the invisible world, and the protestant took 
no notice of it. Presentiments, visions, and apparitions, were 
regarded as either a deception, delusion, and imagination — or, 
where the facts could not be denied, as the work of Satan and 
his angels. By their decree — that the pious were immediately, 
after death, received into heaven, and the impious plunged into 
hell — the gate was closed against the return of departed spirits 
to this world. 

The new mechanic system of the universe had given human 
reason wide admission to further investigation, and, with its 
mechanic laws of nature, it now ventured into the world of 
spirits : and here originated the belief in the iron necessity of 
Fate, that monstrous parent of all infidelity, free-thinking, and, 
in a word, of the falling away from the genuine religion of 
Christ, and of dreadful antichristianism. The maxim was now 
once for all established, that nothing existed in the whole of 
created nature but matter and power. Matter was investigated 
in natural philosophy by all sorts of experiments ; and chemis- 
try, in particular, was very prolific in this way. By this means, 
some of the noblest, and, in human life, the most useful discov- 
eries, were made ; so that those who were engaged in these 
pursuits are deserving of eternal thanks. But as no other 
powers were discovered by these investigations than such as 
are peculiar to matter ; or if the influence of secret powers was 
observed, it was immediately concluded they were also mate- 
rial, only not yet discovered, and that on making further prog- 
ress the traces of them would also be found, which was gener- 
ally the case — it was irreversibly established that there were 
no other powers than such as were material. The following 
syllogism now fully confirmed this proposition : all the powers 
of matter, including those of the body, act also according to 
eternal and immutable laws : the whole universe consists of 
matter and its powers ; consequently every event which occurs 



MATERIALISM EXAMINED. 13 

in the universe takes place according to immutable and un- 
changeable laws. 

Hence proceeded another equally appalling and pregnant 
conclusion. If every event in the universe happens according 
to eternal and unchangeable laws, which are founded in matter, 
for an infinite variety of ends, the world is therefore a machine ; 
that is, its whole organization is mechanical ; but as every ex- 
traneous impetus given to a machine disturbs its progress tow- 
ard the end designed, no beings can therefore exist who exer- 
ts » o 

cise influence on the material world. If such beings were 
necessary for the government of the world, and their co-opera- 
tion in nature, the whole universe would be a very imperfect 
machine, and the supremely perfect Architect of all worlds 
could not have thus created it. 

But what was to become of man, with his reasonable soul 1 
At first they went carefully to work upon this point ; for the 
men who were the authors of the mechanical system above 
mentioned, at least those of the greatest consideration among 
them, certainly had not the intention of doing an injury to 
religion, nor did they remotely foresee that their system would 
serve for its grave. Hence, though they also regarded man as 
a wheel in the great machine of the universe, yet they still con- 
tended for the fieedom of his will ; consequently also for liberty 
of action, under the regulation of reason. The contradiction 
between liberty of action and the eternal, immutable laws of 
nature, they thought to have obviated by maintaining that God, 
before the foundation of the world, had, as it were, formed a 
plan, according to which he would create and regulate this best 
of all possible worlds. He then received the human race into 
this world, who were to consist of purely rational and freely 
operative beings. Now as he, being an omniscient God, fore- 
saw what every man and every being that was free to act would 
choose and do, he so formed his plan that every good and evil 
action fitted into it, and all at length must necessarily lead to 
the great end of all creation. 

The idea of such a plan, and the regulation with reaped to 
the influence of mankind, who were free to act, was called the 

2 



14 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

system of the best of worlds. A great number of thinking men 
and honest divines contented themselves with this fig-leaf apron, 
and there let the matter rest. But there were others who dis- 
covered its nakedness ; for they said : " If God has interwoven 
the free actions of men into the eternal and necessary laws of 
nature, they must therefore themselves be infallibly unchange- 
able, and consequently take place of necessity, and thfe idea of 
human liberty is a deception." 

This result naturally follows from the principle of the whole : 
if the former propositions were correct, the latter must be so 
too. But this is such a horrible thought, that the friend of God 
and man shudders through all his frame at the mere idea of it ; 
for in this case all the sins and crimes from the fall of Adam to 
the last sinner of mankind are acceptable to God, for he has 
adopted them into the plan of the best of worlds ; at least they 
w r ere necessary for the Creator's purpose, because he did not 
avoid them : and is it possible to imagine anything more dread- 
ful 1 Therefore when a person commits even the greatest 
crime, he may think : " This action is part of the plan of the 
best of worlds, otherwise God would not have allowed me to 
commit it ; and as he has thus included it in his plan, he can 
not punish me for it." All the just and logical inferences which 
may be deduced from these axioms are of a nature so infernal, 
horrible, and revolting, that I do not wish even remotely to 
touch upon them. Here all Divine revelation, the Bible with 
all its contents, the mission of the Son of God, and the whole 
of his work of redemption, ceases. There is, at once, an end 
to all religion : if there be a God, we have nothing to do with 
him ; and even were he himself the all-operating power of 
nature, it would be of no avail, because he governs all things 
according to the eternal and unchangeable laws of nature, in 
which no alteration can ever be made. 

See, my dear friends, it is in this way that the so much ex- 
tolled march of intellect leads inevitably to destruction, and 
carries along with it multitudes of the human race, This is 
likewise the non-religion of the " man of sin," over which he 
puts a religious mask. 






MATERIALISM EXAMINED. 15 

The great Leibnitz was the inventor of the best of worlds. 
He probably did not remotely foresee that such consequences 
would arise from it : an English philosopher, however, directed 
his attention to it. He therefore sat down and wrote his " Theo- 
dice," a masterpiece of acuteness and profound thought ; but in 
the end it proves nothing further than that even the greatest 
attainments are unable to defend a bad cause. 

I know very well that not all of those who believe in the 
system of materialism are sunk so low as the horrible ideas 
above mentioned : there are an infinite number of descending 
gradations in it, on which multitudes of rationalists stand ; but 
that all these gradations lead downward to eternal perdition, 
because they inevitably tend to this infernal irreligion, is unde- 
niable. He that is a consistent reasoner, and is become a con- 
vert to materialism, can not do otherwise ; his reason infallibly 
leads him to this appalling result : consequently this mechani- 
cal system is and must be totally false, and in the following 
pages I will incontrovertibly show that it is so. 

Think not, my dear readers, that I am wandering too far 
from the subject. In order to found my theory of Pneuma- 
tology on an immutable basis, I must necessarily pursue this 
path, and first of all show the mighty objections that are raised 
against it. 

If the world be a machine, which, by its concreated powers, 
pursues its course alone without any other assistance — if even 
God himself do not co-operate with it — neither good nor evil 
angels can have any influence upon it. Rationalists take this 
proposition for granted ; according to their assertions, also, there 
are no such beings, and if there were, they concern us as little 
as the inhabitants of any of the planets ; what the Bible says of 
them is metaphorical. 

O my God, what frozen and comfortless sophistry is this ! 
It knows nothing of any Father in heaven, nor of a Redeemer : 
is it then a wonder that the unhappy being that has espoused 
such a system, should lay violent hands upon himself? 

During the time when these great philosophers were hatch- 
ing this horrible basilisk, they left presentiments, visions, and 



16 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

apparitions undisturbed, but the common people continued to 
believe them firmly ; dreams were interpreted, and haunted 
places abounded ; ghosts and hobgoblins were seen. 

The ignis-fatuus belonged also to the class of terrific spirit- 
ual beings, and witchcraft abounded everywhere. There is no 
doubt, that this wild superstition produced dreadful results in 
several places, but still the people believed in God, and in Jesus 
the Savior of the world ; they prayed in faith and confidence ; 
they feared hell and hoped for heaven. Now if these supersti- 
tious notions and this pious faith be laid in the one scale of 
truth, and the present existing infidelity in the other, it will soon 
be seen which weighs the heaviest. The morals of those times 
compared with the morals of the present day, loudly testify that 
the abbe Jerusalem was in the right, when he said, " Rather 
give us the Spanish inquisition, than predominating infidelity." 
May God preserve us from both of them ! 

The consequences of a gloomy superstition were however 
more strikingly apparent than those of the system of material- 
ism. It was not even remotely imagined, that it infallibly led 
to the infernal abyss ; but on the contrary, it was hoped and 
believed that it would set religion forth in its highest purity. 
Superstition was therefore attacked with the weapons which 
philosophy furnished ; it was cast down from the throne, but 
with it also the blissful and tranquillizing faith of the Christian : 
the latter of course was not done intentionally. 

Balthazar Becker in Holland, and Thomasius in Germany, 
have immortalized their names by the overthrow of superstition. 

It is impossible for me to discover that sacred truth, which 
treads the middle path, and overthrow superstition and infidel- 
ity, unless I exhibit and then destroy the basis on which all the 
antagonists of superstition, and of the true faith in conjunction 
with it, have erected and still erect their batteries. 

The idea of the best of worlds (or the system of Optimism) 
had made it obvious, that the physical and moral world was 
governed merely and solely by its own concreated powers, and 
that neither God, nor good nor evil angels, nor spirits, had any 
influence over it. But they went still further : they proved also 






MATERIALISM EXAMINED. 17 

as they thought, incontestably, that according to the meaning of 
the Bible, there were no spirits, and no good or evil angels. 
The existence of a God was still believed, but only from cour- 
tesy ; yes, there were some even so ill-bred as to deny it ; this 
was however a consistent inference ; for if God has no influence 
over the world, we have consequently nothing to do with him, 
and it is very immaterial to us whether there be a God or not ; 
for the world may have existed from all eternity, and have been 
its own God ! See, my dear readers, to what monstrous ideas 
human reason leads, when left to itself! 

The demonstration, that ihere were neither good nor evil an- 
gels, was founded on the following principles : First, God and 
nature creates nothing superfluous. Now as the nature of the 
whole visible world is endowed with its proper powers, it re- 
quires no other co-operating being; and if it needed such a one, 
it would be no perfect work ; but God can create nothing im- 
perfect ; he must therefore have created the world in the best 
and most perfect manner. 

And secondly, if besides God, there are other rational beings, 
they belong to another world, and do not concern us. Now as 
these beings can not be equal with God, but must be finite and 
limited, ihey are therefore liable to errors and mistakes, and thus 
they may be neither perfectly good, nor perfectly evil. There 
are consequently no beings that are thoroughly good or thor- 
oughly evil. 

But man himself is the greatest enigma ; the thinking being 
within him, with all its concreated and inherent faculties, can 
not be defined as proceeding from the powers of matter. Con- 
sciousness, judgment, understanding, reason, memory, imagina- 
tion, &c, can never be produced by any possible combination 
of these powers. 

Here our materialists find it difficult to bring this unknown 
" something" into unison with matter and power. Leibnitz's 
11 principles of indivisibility" and his " predetermined harmony," 
were completely rejected as untenable. There wa^, therefore, 
no other expedient left, than to take up the opinion, either that 
the soul of man was formed from the powers of nature, by the 

2* 



18 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

incomprehensibly wonderful structure of the brain, and was 
therefore still a result of material nature and its powers, and 
also that at death it ceased to be ; or else it was maintained, that 
the soul is an immaterial self-existent being that can only act or 
have any influence on external objects, through the medium of 
the body, with which it is united. 

This is the most general opinion among the rationalists of the 
present day : and hence they draw the following inferences : — 

The spirit of man is not matter ; it can therefore have no 
powers that are ascribed to matter ; it can not occupy space, 
nor act upon other bodies out of its own ; in a disembodied 
state it is no longer obvious to the senses ; it is therefore impos- 
sible for it to appear after death ; and if the soul be really im- 
mortal, it retains nothing after death but a faint consciousness 
of its pre-existence, or recollection, until either at the resurrec- 
tion, or by some still unknown process in the best of worlds, it 
regains a body, and thus begins to act anew ; but whether it 
will then be able to remember its past life is uncertain, and 
scarcely probable ; because it would in no case be in possession 
of its former organs, but of such as were totally different. 

What melancholy ideas ! How unhappy would mankind be 
if they were true ! But, God be praised, they are not ! and 
this I shall now, I trust, be able incontestably to prove. I there- 
fore entreat the reader's closest attention and most serious re- 
flection ; and whoever then thinks himself able to refute me, let 
him do it : I will discuss the matter with him, only let it be done 
in an amicable and candid manner. 

If the material world be so, as it presents itself to our senses ; 
if God view it in the same light, then is the system of universal 
materialism, with all its dreadful consequences immutably true ; 
for the whole demonstration is logically just ; it merely depends 
upon the correctness of the premises ; but that they are false, I 
will and am able to prove. 

If our eyes, our ears, and in a word, all the organs of our 
senses, together with the brain and the nerves were otherwise 
formed and organized, the whole visible world would appear to 
us completely different to what it does at present. Reflect se- 



MATERIALISM EXAMINED. 19 

riously and maturely upon this proposition, and you will find it 
true. If the eye were otherwise organized, we should be sus- 
ceptible of light, colors, forms, figures, proximity, and distance, 
all in an entirely different manner. Only think for a moment 
of magnifying glasses and telescopes : the former makes every- 
thing larger ; the latter, everything nearer. Now if our eyes 
were formed in a similar manner to these glasses, everything 
would be larger and nearer than it now is. By means of glasses, 
which are cut and polished in various ways, light and colors, and 
every form changes its appearance : now supposing that the 
eyes of all men were thus organized, all nature would receive 
a different form. Apply this to all the human senses and what 
will be the result ] certainly nothing else than quite a different 
world, and consequently all our ideas and conclusions would be 
wholly different. 

The human senses only perceive the surface of things in space 
and time : that is, in extension and succession ; no created spirit 
penetrates into their inward nature, except the Creator alone 
that made them. We are limited beings ; hence all our concep- 
tions are also limited. We can not imagine to ourselves two 
things, much less a greater number, at the same time ; we must 
therefore be so organized, that all things appear to us sepa- 
rately ; that is, in space ; and in succession, that is, in time. 
Time and space have therefore their origin merely in our own 
souls ; out of us, in the being of nature itself, neither of them 
have any existence. Now as every movement in the whole cre- 
ation occurs in time and space, without both of which 710 mo- 
tion can possibly take place, therefore all the movements in the 
whole creation, are merely forms of ideas in our souls, which 
do not take place in nature ; consequently all the systems of the 
universe, even including the Copernican, are merely ideal forms. 
The creation in itself being very different. 

God, the Almighty Creator, views the universe as it is in re- 
ality and truth ; and in fact, He alone ; for all created beings 
are limited, and can there only form a bounded idea of the uni- 
verse, consequently not so as it is in reality; if they venture to 
go beyond the limits assigned them ; they fall into monstrous 
contradictions and error. 



/ 



20 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

God has created us men in such a manner, and so organized 
us as we are. It is, therefore, his will that we figure to our- 
selves the universe in the manner that we do : for us, this idea 
of it is really the true one ; and all that we perceive through 
the senses is not a vain imagination, but really founded on the 
nature of things; — our conviction is, therefore, not ideal; but 
that we do not view things as they really are — that is, as God 
regards them — is an eternal and incontestable truth. 

All ideas which are founded upon time and space are limited. 
Now, as the eternal, infinite, and incomprehensible God knows 
no bounds, he does not regard the world in time and space ; 
and as his view of it is alone the true one, the world is like- 
wise not in time and space. Further, as that which we call 
body and matter occupies space and continues through time ; 
as objects have each their separate motion in space, and act 
upon each other by their powers, &c. ; and as time and space 
do not really exist in the creation itself, but are only forms of 
ideas — so, that which we call matter, power, and reciprocal 
influence, is mere human idea ; in reality, everything is other- 
wise. * 

We will call that part of creation which is obvious to the 
senses the visible world : within this visible world, we may and 
we ought to reason and judge according to the laws of time 
and space, and the mutual influence of objects upon each other ; 
here we may and we ought to esteem and prize the Copernican 
system : but as soon as we transfer it to the world of truth, and 
seek to bring it into connection with the influence of God upon 
the visible world, we judge as a blind man does of colors, and 
fall into absurdities. Let the astronomer quietly continue to 
make use of it as a mathematical axiom, and to enlarge the vis- 
ible creation by his inventions and discoveries : the ancient 
biblical representation, and the idea which mankind have formed 
of the universe from the earliest age — that the earth stood in 
the centre, and that the whole firmament moved round the earth, 

* I can easily suppose that my readers, from all that has heen said, will be 
startled, and think, what will be the end of it? Only read quietly and attentively 
further, nnd it will be apparent. 



MATERIALISM EXAMINED. 21 

as also that this is the most important part of creation — are, to 
us, true and satisfactory ; for, as all motion can take place in 
time and place only, and as time and space have no existence 
in the province of truth, so likewise no motion exists there, but 
merely in our idea; and therefore the firmament may just as 
well revolve in twenty-four hours round the earth, as the earth 
round the sun. The Copernican system is founded upon the 
real existence of time, space, and motion in each ; but, as all 
three are not to be found in the realm of truth, the Copernican 
system is nothing more than an easier method of solving a diffi- 
cult question. The ancient system of the universe, in which 
the earth, with mankind, is made the chief object of creation, 
and in which everything else revolves around them, is the most 
natural and obvious idea to all men ; it is also the most easily 
united with the representations of that world which is above 
the senses, and is, therefore, the truest system for us : while 
the Copernican, on the contrary, has arisen from rational infer- 
ences, founded on the reality of time and sjDace, and is, there- 
fore, not true. 

Every reasonable man, who is in any measure capable of 
calm and impartial reflection, must and will find all that has 
been hitherto advanced undeniably true ; and should, here and 
there, any one have any doubt or objection still, let him state 
it : I will solve every doubt and answer every objection. 

Now, what is the mechanic philosophical system with ref- 
erence to the visible world % It is the only excellent means 
which God has granted us of knowing human truth, or what is 
true for us. But as soon as we venture with it beyond the 
bounds of the visible world, and seek by it to judge of that 
which is invisible, and even of God himself, we fall into shock- 
ing contradictions, and it is these that form the flaming sword 
of the cherub, waving in every direction, which keeps us back 
from the gates of paradise. But if we seek to advance still 
further, and, led on by thisvrmechanical system, either deny 
everything that is not perceptible to the senses, and conse- 
quently does not belong to the visible world, or judge, even of 
God himself, according to the rules of things that are seen, and 



22 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

lay this, as established and experimental truth, for the founda- 
tion by which to regulate our life and conduct, we shall com- 
mit a sin which, according to our Bible, drew after it the fall 
of Satan ; for, by so doing, we make our reason the source of 
truth, and consequently a god. Now, from all that has been 
said, the following proposition justly and naturally results : — 

God does not live and think in time and space; with him 
there is neither past nor future : consequently, there can be no 
question of any plan or concatenation of free action with fixed 
and immutable laws ; the whole idea, therefore, of the best of 
worlds, is a childish conception, which can have no place in the 
province of truth. But, as we must necessarily form an idea 
on this subject, we receive, in faith, the biblical representation 
of the eternal counsel of God, and neither add nor take away 
anything from it. The Holy Scriptures conform themselves 
everywhere to human conception ; but still in such a manner 
as is most becoming God and truth, and most productive of 
benefit to man. 

The visible creation consists of bodies that are unknown to 
us. What we call matter and power are ideas peculiar to our- 
selves, which certainly have their foundation in those bodies, 
but which are, in themselves, by no means so constituted as we 
imagine them to be in time and space. Therefore, when we 
compare them with machines on which no extraneous influence 
may operate, we greatly err ; for our visible world is closely 
united to the invisible world — both mutually act upon each 
other : the proof of this lies in our own natures. Our bodies 
belong to the visible, and our spirits to the invisible world ; we 
do not feel with our senses, the substance of our spirits, but 
we feel their influence upon our bodies. Now, as we find, in 
our own beings, that a rational spirit can act upon matter, and 
does so without ceasing, how can any one venture to deny the 
influence of invisible beings, angels and spirits, on the visible 
world 1 There is, even in our visible world, a most powerful 
omnipresent body — a body, without which the whole visible 
world could not exist, and would be to us a cipher — I mean 
light: we regard it as matter — are able also, in various in- 



MATERIALISM EXAMINED. 23 

stances, to treat it as such — and it is likewise found in our 
ideas in time and space ; and yet it has properties which are 
completely opposed to the nature of all other matter. Con- 
sider only the different intersecting rays of all illuminating 
and illuminated bodies, which intersect each other in a million 
different ways, without impeding each other in their direct 
course. I should be glad to see that naturalist who could sat- 
isfactorily explain this from the eternal and immutable laws of 
matter. 

Light is the connecting link between the visible and invisible 
worlds. The transition from one to the other is through its 
medium. 

The whole universe consists entirely of created beings, each 
of which is an expressed and really existing word of God. All 
these divide themselves into two principal classes — into think- 
ing, intelligent, and susceptible spirits, and into an infinite 
variety of other things, which are unknown to us beyond the 
visible world. Spirits, or the kingdom of spirits, again consist 
of various kinds, which always vary from each other according 
to their degrees of perfection, but all which associate together 
and act upon each other. Into this world of spirits man enters 
at his death ; and his happiness or misery depends upon his 
having improved his time of probation or not. 

Those spirits, or inhabitants of the world of spirits, who are, 
so to speak, on the borders of the visible world, and stand next 
in connection to us, are good and evil angels, and the souls of 
deceased men. The Holy Scriptures expressly testify that the 
former, the good and evil angels, have influence over mankind 
and over the visible world, but without trenching upon the 
freedom of the will. 

The system of materialism maintains that the whole universe 
is governed by eternal and immutable laws like clockwork ; 
consequently, the freedom of the will is a mere idea and delu- 
sion. Now, I have shown, in the preceding pages, that the 
eternal and immutable laws of nature are mere forms of ideas 
founded on time and space; — but as the latter are merely 
modes of thinking, so are the former, and, therefore, not only 



24 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

inapplicable out of the visible world, but also in direct opposi- 
tion to truth; for we really and truly feel ourselves free — our 
natures loudly tell us so, and even reason teaches it us, because 
the converse is incompatible with the divine, spiritual, and 
human natures, and is productive of the most frightful results ; 
and, finally, the Bible maintains it on every page. God gov- 
erns the world through every class of rational, free agents. 
His Spirit inclines the will of every spirit, by representing to it 
what is suitable. To all of them he gives laws, which are the 
foundation of eternal joy and blessedness; but he leaves them 
the free choice whether to obey them or not. Those that do 
not obey them are evil beings, whom he also leave at liberty ; 
but his infinite wisdom and eternal love know how to gradually 
overrule the consequences of evil actions, in such a manner as 
eventually to produce salvation and blessing from them. These 
ideas develop, likewise, a part of the great mystery of redemp- 
tion by Christ : and here I could annex a long and important 
dissertation on the fall of angels and men, and on the return of 
lost man to the Father by means of the true Christian religion; 
but it would lead me too far from my subject : I therefore take 
up my staff and proceed further. 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 25 



CHAPTER II. 

REMARKS UPON THE NATURE OF MAN. 

I now descend again from that height where it is impossible 
for the human soul to continue long without becoming giddy. 
But I was obliged to venture this lofty flight, in order to pre- 
cipitate that monstrous idol, Materialism, from the throne, and 
place upon it Theocratical Liberty. 

From all that I have hitherto maintained, proved, and dem- 
onstrated, the reader must not infer more than is necessary to 
establish true and genuine faith, and to overthrow superstition. 
Just as the world appears to our senses, such is it also to us in 
reality; and as long as we continue within the bounds of the 
material world, the system of mechanical philosophy is a law 
to us : but beyond these bounds, it must by no means be con- 
sidered as such. 

The Bible affirms that good and evil angels, or spirits, act 
powerfully upon us and upon the visible world, and neither rea- 
son nor nature has anything against it ; on the contrary, the 
attentive observer occasionally finds undeniable traces of such 
influence, as will be seen in the sequel. But here I must 
immediately, on the outset, premise an important warning. 

In our present state, our corporeal and physical nature is 
ordered and organized solely with reference to the visible world. 
In our natural state, with the exception of our own souls, we 
perceive nothing of the world of spirits ; and as our reason, 
likewise, can only found its conclusions on the evidence of the 
senses, it knows equally as little, out of itself and from its own 
sources of an invisible world and its operation. It is only 
Divine revelation, and individual experience for a length of time, 
which teach us that beings from the invisible world, and also 
G-od himself, have manifested themselves to the senses and act 
upon our visible world. 

3 



26 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

From these observations, it is clearly evident that nature 
and reason are by no means referred to the invisible world 
and its influence, and that the Holy Scriptures, in all the 
testimonies which they give of this influence, point us solely 
and exclusively to the Divine government, and its holy and all- 
directing providence. The angels are all of them ministering 
spirits, sent forth to minister to those that are the heirs of salva- 
tion : Heb. i. 14, and also in other places to the same effect. 
But we nowhere find even the slightest hint that we ought to 
apply to them in any manner, or pay attention to them : much 
less ought presumption, curiosity, or a desire to know the 
future, excite us to enter into connection with the world of 
spirits : this is even forbidden, like divination and witchcraft. 
He, therefore, that seeks presentiments, visions, and appari- 
tions, sins greatly. They are exceptions from the rule, and to 
them we are not referred : they however are, and ever will be, 
remarkable and deserving of the most faithful, thorough, and 
impartial investigation. The sequel will show the reason of this. 

As soon as the system of materialism is proved to be false, 
and of value in the physical world only, being totally incom- 
patible with the world of spirits — because the former is founded 
only on time and space, but the latter by no means — so the 
reciprocal operation of two things, which are remote from each 
other as to time and space, is likewise impossible in the mate- 
rial world ; but in the spiritual world, not only possible, but 
natural. 

To forebode something signifies the apprehension of some- 
thing remote, either in time or space, so that the individual is, 
more or less obscurely, conscious of it. When I say I fore- 
bode something, I infer, from reasonable grounds, that some 
particular thing will occur, or that it is taking place at a dis- 
tance. By the words, " I have a foreboding or presentiment 
of something," I express the feeling of the influence of some 
being, unknown to me, that designs to inform me of something 
that has taken place at a distance, or something future — that 
is, approaching. But, in order to shed light upon this obscure 
subject, let us examine human nature a little more closely. 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 07 

The idea of human nature that had previously generally pre- 
vailed, consisted in this : man was regarded as a being consti- 
tuted of body and soul ; the body was considered as a very 
artificially-organized machine, which was set in motion and 
operation by the soul. This idea is also quite correct, accord- 
ing to the laws of the material world, and the mechanical sys- 
tem which prevails in it ; we can not, and 'We ought not to, 
regard our bodies in any other light. 

The soul was denominated ''spirit" — of which, however, 
nothing further was known than that its operation was felt ; 
and this is also perfectly correct, for its substance does not be- 
long to the material, but to the spiritual world, and can not, 
therefore, be felt by us in our present state : but how these 
extremely different substances, spirit and body, could recipro- 
cally act upon each other, no one knew. Elucidations were 
hazarded, but contradictions opposed themselves; faith was 
exercised, and reason taken captive ; and this was the surest 
way, under those circumstances : but now the path is opened 
out to us, so that, at least, we are come much nearer the truth. 

The science of animal magnetism, which had occasionally 
manifested itself from the earliest ages, and was brought into a 
system by Mesmer, between the years 1770 and 1780, but which, 
at the very outset, met with the most profound contempt, in con- 
sequence of the most extravagant charlatanry, and the most 
shocking abuse which was made of it, was now investigated by 
very able, impartial, and candid naturalists — by men who really 
can not be charged with the weakness of enthusiasm. 

Those who are the best known to me, are the late counsellor 
of state, Bockmann, of Carlsruhe, and my never-to-be-forgotten 
friend, Doctor Wienholt, surgeon, of Bremen, who is now no 
more. Bockmann was also my warm friend, and communica- 
ted many observations to me with his own lips. To these must 
be added another credible witness, Doctor Gmelin, of Heilbron : 
this very learned, and anything else than fantastic or enthusias- 
tic individual, has given to the public his very striking experi- 
ments in several volumes. The late Doctor Wienholt, had also 
collected his highly interesting animal-magnetic practice of 



28 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

twenty years into several volumes, of which he had published 
one or two of the first, when he was overtaken by death. 
Scherf, the celebrated physician to the prince of Detmold, sub- 
sequently completed the publication of this work. Besides 
these, I have met with many professional, and non-professional 
men in my various journeys, for whose incorruptible integrity, 
penetration, and .strong attachment to the truth, I can vouch, 
from whom I have learned things still more mysterious, and 
such as are in the highest degree remarkable, but which are not 
of a nature to be made public. 

To avoid all unnecessary prolixity, I will only here adduce 
such results of animal magnetism, as are certain, and beyond a 
doubt ; but if this be not sufficient for the reader, let him atten- 
tively peruse the works above mentioned, and he will assuredly 
be convinced. But before I proceed further, I must give all 
my readers a serious caution : animal magnetism is a very dan- 
gerous thing. When an intelligent physician employs it for the 
cure of certain diseases, there is no objection to it ; but as soon 
as it is applied to discover mysteries, to which we are not di- 
rected in this life, the individual commits the sin of sorcery — 
an insult to the majesty of Heaven. 

When a person of either sex is gently stroked, according to 
certain rules, by another person of either sex, over his clothes 
(for it is not necessary to undress), and when this is frequently 
repeated, many fall into what is called the magnetic sleep (som- 
nambulism) : some earlier, some later, and many not at all. In 
this state, all the senses are at rest ; no noise, no sudden entrance 
of light, no violent shaking can awake them, and the body is as 
it were dead, with the exception of those motions which are 
necessary to vitality. The inner man enters into a more eleva- 
ted, and agreeable state, which gradually increases, the more 
frequently magnetizing or stroking, according to certain rules, 
is repeated. ' The exaltation of the inner man rises in many 
persons to such a height, that they come into connection with 
the invisible world, and they very frequently reveal hidden mys- 
teries, and also remarkable things, which are taking place at a 
distance, or will shortly happen. 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 29 

The following circumstance is very striking, and in fact, as- 
tonishing. During this magnetic sleep, the individual has not 
the smallest perception of the visible world ; he only sees the 
person who magnetizes him, and who stands in rapport with 
him, not however with the visual organs, for they are either con- 
vulsively closed, or if open, the pupils are as much dilated as 
in a complete gutta serena. I have myself held a lighted can- 
dle immediately before the eyes of a person in this state, but the 
pupils continued extended and immovable, he perceived nothing 
whatever of the light ; but the individual sees the person who 
magnetizes him from the region of the pit of the heart, in a lu- 
minous azure radiance, that surrounds the whole body like a 
glory. With many, the exaltation of the inner man rises so 
high, that they read most distinctly, the thoughts and ideas which 
pass in the mind of their magnetizer. 

I have said that these persons, in their elevated state, are un- 
conscious of anything in the visible world, except their mag- 
netizer ; but as soon as the latter places them in rapport with 
another person, by means of certain graspings of the hand, they 
immediately see this other person in like manner, not with the 
eyes, but from the region of the pit of the heart ; and in this 
same way, they perceive also, distinctly and correctly, what that 
person thinks and imagines at the time. In this state, the som- 
nambulist has a most lively recollection of his whole life ; all 
the faculties of his soul are in a state of elevation, but as soon 
as he awakes again, he is totally unconscious of it. 

Persons who have long been magnetized, who have often 
been in a state of somnambulism, and have attained to a hisrh 

o 

degree of inward vision, read and recognise drawings and pic- 
tures which are held before the pit of their hearts. That there 
is no deception in this matter, which is incomprehensible accord- 
ing to our common mode of thinking, is evident from the re- 
peated experiments that have been made ; so that there is no 
longer any doubt of the certainty and correctness of the fact. 
Gmelin, Wienholt, Bockmann, &c.,have made these experiments 
so frequently and so carefully, that the thing may be received as 

3* 



30 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

an infallible truth, founded in nature, and from which correct 
inferences may be drawn. 

A well-known, learned, and estimable divine, saw these ex- 
periments in Hamburgh ; they appeared to him so remarkable, 
and brought to light so much of what was before mysterious, 
that he published a very interesting little book on the Inward 
Man : but the following account, which is contained in a Stras- 
burg paper, called the " Courier of the Lower Rhine," (num- 
ber 31, 12th of March, 1807), exceeds in remarkableness all pre- 
vious experiments upon this subject. I will therefore insert it 
it verbatim : — 

" The history of the somnambulist of Lyons," says the Jour- 
nal de Paris, "presents an assemblage of such striking facts, 
that we should be inclined to regard the whole as charlatanry 
and deceit, if credible eye-witnesses had not vouched for the 
truth of it. People may smile on hearing it asserted, that an 
hysterical woman possesses the rare gift of revealing future 
things to those with whom she stands in rapport, but such is the 
case ; the wise man believes without precipitation, and doubts 
with caution. M. Petetain, an esteemed physician in Lyons, 
who has long watched the progress of the disorder with which 
the lady is afflicted, is occupied in arranging the facts he has 
collected, and in preparing them for publication. Previous to 
the appearance of M. Peteiain's announced work, we will ad- 
duce the following facts, which are related by a respectable 
eye-witness, Mr. Ballanche. 

" The catalepsy of a lady in Lyons, had been for some time 
the subject of conversation in that city ; and M. Petetain had 
already published several very surprising facts relative to it, 
when Mr. Ballanche became desirous of being an eye-witness 
of the astonishing effects of this disorder. He chose the mo- 
ment for visiting this lady, when she was approaching the 
crisis* At the door lie learned that not every one without 
distinction, was permitted to approach the patient's couch, but 
that she must herself grant the permission. She was therefore 
asked if she would receive Mr. Ballanche ; to which she re- 
* The time of the magnetic sleep. 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 31 

plied in the affirmative : upon this he approached the bed, in 
which he saw a female lying motionless, and who was to all ap- 
pearance, sunk into a profound sleep. He laid his hand, as he 
had been instructed, on the stomach of the somnambulist, and 
then began his interrogatories. The patient answered them all 
most correctly. This surprising result only excited the curios- 
ity of the inquirer. He had with him several letters from one 
of his friends, one of which he took, with whose contents he 
imagined himself best acquainted, and laid it folded up, on the 
stomach of the patient. He then asked the sleeper if she could 
read the letter, to which she answered yes. He then inquired 
if it did not mention a certain person whom he named. She 
denied that it did. M. Ballanche being certain that the patient 
was mistaken, repeated the question and received a similar an- 
swer in the negative ; the somnambulist even appeared angry 
at his doubting it, and pushed away the hand of the inquirer 
and the letter from her. M. Ballanche, struck with this obsti- 
nacy, went to one side with the letter, read it, and found to his 
great astonishment that he had not laid the letter he intended to 
have selected on the stomach of the sleeper ; and that, there- 
fore, the error was on his side. He approached the bed a sec- 
ond time, laid that particular letter on the place ; and the pa- 
tient then said, with a certain degree of satisfaction, that she 
read the name which he had previously mentioned. 

" This experiment would, doubtless, have satisfied most men ; 
but M. Ballanche went still further. He had been told that 
the patient could see through the darkest substances, and read 
writing and letters through walls. He asked if this were really 
the case, to which she replied in the affirmative. He therefore 
took a book, went into an adjoining room, held with one hand 
a leaf of this book against the wall, and with the other took 
hold of one of those that were present, who, joining hands, 
formed a chain which reached to the patient, on whose stomach 
the last person laid his hand. The patient read the leaves that 
were held to the wall, which were often turned over, and read 
them without making the smallest error. 

" This is a faithful and simple relation of what M. Ballanche 



32 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

saw. An infinite number of objections may be brought against 
it, but a hundred thousand substantial arguments can not over- 
throw one single fact. The lady still lives, is seen by many 
impartial persons, and was long attended, by an expert and 
respectable physician, who attests the same. The individuals 
give their names. Who is bold enough still to deny it V 1 So 
far the Strasburg paper. 

This narrative contains nothing that is not confirmed by, 
numberless experiments : one circumstance is, however, re-j 
markable, that the lady in question can read at a distance, 
without coming into immediate contact, when a line of persons 
take hold of each other's hands, the first of whom lays his 
hand upon the pit of the heart — not of the stomach, which 
has nothing to do with the matter — and the last holds the let- 
ter : however, she reads through neither the partition nor the 
wall, but through the soul of him who holds the book or letter. 
By a similar connection or chain, electricity, or the electric 
shock, is communicated. All this is still obscure, but in the 
sequel it will become clearer. 

Equally remarkable, and perhaps still more important, is 
the observation, to which all confidence may be attached, that 
somnambulists, when they have attained to a certain high degree 
of clearness of vision, manifestly and distinctly perceive the 
thoughts and ideas of him with whom they are placed in rap- 
port. He, therefore, who intends to magnetize another, should 
himself be a person of pure heart, of piety and integrity. 

Among so many experiments of this kind, I will only adduce 
one, which Gmelin relates in his work abovementioned. He 
states that, in the year 1780, he went to Carlsruhe to collect 
facts relative to magnetism, and found what he was in search 
of. He was told there was at that time a somnambulist there, 
whose inward vision was so clear that she could distinctly read 
what passed in the souls of those with whom she was placed 
in connection : if he would, therefore, bring the patients, whom 
he had then under cure, distinctly in succession before her, 
she would tell him what his ideas were. He followed this 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 33 

advice, and found the fact was really so : she told him, dis- 
tinctly, everything that he imagined. 

Another individual of great integrity, and to whom I am 
much attached, told me that his wife had once a housekeeper, 
who had also been magnetized on account of illness, and had at 
length, during her magnetic sleep, attained an extraordinary 
degree of clearness of vision. In this state she had communi- 
cated remarkable and important discoveries concerning the 
invisible world, which were in exact accordance with a work 
of mine, entitled " Scenes from the World of Spirits," although 
she had never seen my book, nor knew, nor could have known, 
of its existence. 

She brought intelligence from the invisible world, respecting 
certain important personages, enough to make the hearer's" 
ears tingle. She once said to her master, in the crisis, " Your 
brother has just expired at Magdeburg." No one knew any- 
thing of his illness, and, besides this, Magdeburg was many 
miles distant. A few days after, the news arrived of his death, 
which exactly agreed with the prediction. 

According to our common conceptions of human nature, the 
fact is astonishing, incomprehensible, and most remarkable, that 
all somnambulists, even the most vulgar and uneducated people, 
begin clearly to recognise their bodily illness, and even pre- 
scribe the most appropriate medicines for themselves, which 
the physician must also make use of if he wishes to gain his 
end. Even if they do not know the names of the remedies, yet 
they describe their qualities so minutely that the physician can 
soon ascertain them. In this state, also, they speak high Ger- 
man, where this is the language of the pulpit and the written 
tongue* 

It is also very remarkable that somnambulists, who have 
often been in this state and at length attain this clearness of 
vision, arise, perform all kinds of work, play on an instrument 
if they have been taught music, go out to walk, &c, without 
their bodily senses having even the smallest perception of the 

* In most parts of Germany, the middle and lower classes speak low German, 
which varies considerahly from the written language. 



34 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

visible world : they are then in the state of common sleep-walk- 
ers. Thus it happened, that while I was at Bremen, in the 
autumn of the year 1798, a young woman came to me to ask 
my advice respecting her eyes. She was a somnambulist, and 
had herself decided upon consulting me in the crisis; her 
mother accompanied her, but she awoke in my presence, and 
I was therefore obliged to prescribe the appropriate remedies 
alone and without her assistance. 

All these incidents, and others still more wonderful, may be 
found in the writings of the abovementioned authors. The 
most eminent physicians, and, generally speaking, every learned 
and rational thinking person, who has had the opportunity and 
the will to examine, with precision, the effects of animal mag- 
netism, will attest that all that has been now advanced is pure 
truth, and confirm it by their testimony. But how is it that no 
one has hitherto attempted to draw hence those fertile infer- 
ences, by which the knowledge of human nature might be so 
much increased ? To the best of my knowledge, no one has 
yet done so. Truly, so long as materialism is considered as 
the only true system, it is impossible to comprehend such won- 
derful things ; but, according to my system of theocratic lib- 
erty, not only is the whole comprehensible, but we are also led 
by magnetism to the most important discoveries, which before 
were only mysterious enigmas. I entreat a candid and impar- 
tial investigation of the following conclusions. 

Every naturalist knows, and it is a generally acknowledged 
truth, that there is a certainly extremely rarified and active 
fluid, which fills the whole creation, so far as we are acquainted 
with it. We will call this fluid rarified celestial air; or, in one 
word, ether. Newton was acquainted with it, and called it 
Sensoriu??i Dei — the organ of Divine sensation. Euler be- 
lieved that the bodies of light gave a tremulous motion to this 
fluid, which extended itself till it reached the sight, and thus 
formed the light: which opinion I also regarded for a long 
time as the most probable ; but, on close examination, I find it 
impossible. The million different intersections of this tremu- 
lous motion must necessarily confuse their direction. Even 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 35 

the definition of sound, by the progressive motion of the atmo- 
sphere, is untenable ; for if we attentively observe how many 
thousand tones — sometimes all at once, and at another follow- 
ing each other in rapid succession — are distinguished by the 
ear in a variously-composed concerto, each of which tones 
must, therefore, occasion its appropriate motion in the atmo- 
sphere ; I say, how can such a material motion be possible, 
without confusing itself a hundred, nay, a thousand times? 

It is also acknowledged, further, that this ethereal fluid pen- 
etrates through the most compact bodies, so that it fills all 
things, and is itself perfectly penetrable ; for if it were not so, 
it could not penetrate through the densest bodies. Light, elec- 
tricity, galvanism, and perhaps also the magnetic power of 
iron, are, very probably, nothing else than different exhibitions 
of this one and the same fluid. 

Now. as this ether, according to our human ideas, fills time 
and space, undeniably acts everywhere as matter (and who 
knows if it be not the living principle in plants and animals), 
but, on the other hand, also possesses properties which are dia- 
metrically at variance with materiality — for instance, its pene- 
trating through the most compact bodies, being itself pene- 
trable, causing a thousand various alternate operations of the 
remotest bodies upon each other, which the most refined con- 
necting mediums could not possibly produce, &c. — I therefore 
conclude, with certainty and firm conviction, that this ether, 
this luminous fluid, is the transition from the visible to the 
invisible world, and the medium behceen both. 

All physicians and scientific men agree also in this — that 
there is in the brain and nerves of man a subtle fluid, or power, 
from which all motion, life, and sensation, and consequently 
also the operations of all the five senses, proceed ; and this 
view of the matter is perfectly correct — no man of intelligence 
denies it, except that one calls this fluid " power," another 
"nervous sensibility," and a third "the animal spirits." The 
ancients denominated it Arcliaeus, and ascribed to every organ 
of the body its peculiar archseum. That this powerful prin- 
ciple in the brain and nerves is nothing else than ether, the 



36 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

luminous fluid, the medium between the visible and invisible 
worlds, is rendered incontestably evident by all the experiments 
of animal magnetism, as will be subsequently shown. 

The brain and the nerves of man are filled from his birth with 
this ethereal fluid ; they attract it to them from its material side 
and make it their own, so that it is identified with their inter- 
nal formation and arrangement : so far, man has no advantage 
above the brute. But something is now added to man out of 
the invisible world — the rational, thinking being ; the divine 
spark then unites itself, firmly and indivisibly, on the spiritual 
side of this ethereal fluid, with it; and thus it is possible to 
think how the spirit of man can act upon his body, and yet it is 
not comprehensible, because the beings of the spiritual world, 
to which our spirits belong, are not obvious to sense. 

But, in order to speak with greater precision, we must divide 
man into three different parts, mutually united to each other. 
First : The outward, mechanical body, which has no material 
preference above the brutes — or, at least, is not essentially dif- 
ferent from them : by this body, the man is united with the 
visible world as long as he lives. Secondly : .The ethereal 
fluid, which is, properly speaking, the corporeal principle of 
life, which the man has in common with the brutes, and 
which maybe called, abstractedly, "soul" — -anima, animans. 
Thirdly: The immortal spirit of man, which is peculiarly cre- 
ated after the image of God, and, on this account, stands in this 
singular connection with the material world, in order that it 
may strive for the reattainment of its lost inherent dignity. 

The ethereal fluid and the spirit together, which, in eternity, 
make inseparably one, I will in future call the human soul, to 
distinguish it from the animal soul : in the sequel, all this will 
be clearer, and become convincingly certain. 

The human soul is present in every part of its body ; it is 
conscious of itself in every part, according as the organs of the 
body give occasion ; it sees with the eyes, hears with the ears, 
smells with the nose, tastes with the tongue and palate, and 
feels with the whole skin, or the whole superficies of the body. 
All this it has in common with the animal soul ; — but there is 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 37 

something more superadded, which gives it a rank far differ- 
ent and more elevated than the brutes ; it is an intelligent be- 
ing, that is capable of knowing and loving God, and of ripening 
to an angel, but also of becoming a devil. Considered, there- 
fore, in this point of view, it is a citizen of the world of spirits, 
and can also be brought into connection with them. 

The human soul is invisible to us in our natural state ; but 
those that are in the magnetic sleep see it like an azure radiance, 
which surrounds the whole body to a certain extent, so that ev- 
ery man has around him a psychical atmosphere ; hence it is, 
also, that many who are stone blind, can feel near objects with- 
out coming into contact with them. What is called maf- 
netizing is also performed solely in this atmosphere, by which 
operation the wonderful effects of magnetic sleep are produced. 

The human soul in the natural state is directed by the nerves, 
wherever feeling, consciousness, and motion, are necessary. It 
appears to have the principal seat in the brain ; but by magneti- 
zing, it is more or less detached from the brain and nerves, and 
consequently becomes more or less a free agent ; for, as the 
clear-seeing somnambulist does not see with the eyes, but out 
of the region of the pit of the heart, and as this is always the 
case, without exception,* it is clear hence, that the human soul 
of itself can not only see without the aid of the body, but also 
so much clearer than in its fleshly prison, nor stand in need of 
our material light ; for magnetic sleepers read what is laid on 
the pit of the heart, and the contents of closed letters. Nay, 
they can read at a distance, when the book or writing is sepa- 
rated from them by dense and opaque bodies, as soon as that 
which is to be read is held by a person, with whom the somnam- 
bulist stands in psychical contact or connection, of which the 
abovementioned Lyonese lady is an instance. The human 
soul in this state, not only sees but also feels everything more 
acutely than in its natural, waking state, without requiring for 
this purpose any one of the bodily senses; but it is very re- 

* This does not conform to the experience of more modern times. Clairvoyants 
now profess quite as often to see from the cerebral region as from the pit of the 
heart. — Ed. 

4 



38 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

markable that it is not susceptible of the smallest thing belong- 
ing to the visible world, except when brought into a psychical 
contact, connection, or rapport, which is effected when another 
person is magnetically brought into unison with the soul of the 
magnetic sleeper, by certain graspings of the hand, so that both 
touch each other ; the somnambulist can then, particularly when 
he is in a very exalted and clear-sighted state, perceive every- 
thing that the person thinks, suffers, feels, and enjoys, who 
stands in connection with him. 

Now, as these are all of them acknowledged truths, it is as- 
tonishing and almost incomprehensible to me, how it is possible 
that so many great and thinking men have not deduced from 
these experiments the most weighty and pregnant truths; for 
hence, just and logical inferences may be drawn, which are of 
the highest importance to the science of souls and spirits, and 
to religion likewise. We will pursue our path, and then see 
whither it will lead us. 

It is indispensably necessary that the rational spirit of man 
which is immortal, and proceeded forth from God, should have 
an organ by which it can act upon other beings, and they in re- 
turn upon it ; without this, it would have no knowledge of any- 
thing out of itself, and would be itself a pure nonentity to ev- 
ery other being. Now this organ is ether, which is indestruc- 
tible by any natural power, and is eternal and unchangeable. 
The spirit, during its sensible existence upon earth, forms to it- 
self a spiritual luminous body, with which it continues eternally 
united. 

The magnetic facts and experiments above stated, prove to a 
demonstration, the existence of this spiritual luminous body, or 
the human soul ; they further prove that this human soul has 
need of its gross and animal body, solely with reference to its 
earthly life, in which man must necessarily stand in reciprocal 
operation with the sensible or material world, but that it is able 
without it to think and feel, and to act upon others, bolh near 
and at a distance, in a much more perfect manner, and is also 
more susceptible of suffering and enjoyment. This conclusion 
must unquestionably arise in the mind of the impartial obser- 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 39 

ver, when he assembles all the various exhibitions which mag- 
netism produces, and then calmly and rationally reflects upon 
them. 

If the human soul during its existence in its material body, 
from which it is not entirely detached, be capable of such won- 
derful things ; what will its capability be when totally separated 
from it by death ! Let the reader reflect upon this. In dying, 
the person loses his consciousness, he falls into a perfect trance 
or profound sleep. As long as the mass of blood is still warm 
and not congealed, all the members of the body continue pliant; 
and as long as this is the case, the soul remains in it ; but as 
soon as the brain and the nerves lose their warmth and become 
frigid, they can no longer attract the ethereal part of the soul, 
nor retain it any longer ; it therefore disengages itself, divests 
itself of its earthly bonds, and awakes. It is now in the state 
of a clear-seeing magnetic sleeper, but being entirely separated 
from the body, its state is much more perfect : it has a complete 
recollection of its earthly existence from beginning to end ; it 
remembers those it has left behind, and can form to itself a very 
clear idea of the visible world, of which it is now no longer sus- 
ceptible, while on the contrary, it is conscious of the invisible 
world and its objects : namely, that part of it to which it belongs, 
or to which it has here adapted itself. The candid inquirer 
will easily find that all this follows logically and justly from 
magnetic experiments, if he be acquainted with them, and duly 
considers them. 

The objection may, and doubtless will be made, that it is still 
not altogether certain that the somnambulist, in a state of clear- 
sightedness, makes no use whatever of the brains and nerves in 
the ideas he forms. The answer to this is, that he certainly 
does not use his eyes for the purpose of vision, and that ho 
makes just as little use of the other organs of sense for the pur- 
pose of feeling; now, as the brain is excited merely by the im- 
pressions of the outward senses, it is impossible that this can be 
the case here. However, in the following pages facts will be 
stated, which undeniably confirm my assertion. 

The somnambulist has no perception of anything in the visi- 



40 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

ble world, with the exception of the souls of those individuals that 
are brought into a corresponding connection, or into rapport 
with him : through these he learns what passes in the visible 
world. The soul, after death, enters into connection with those 
that bear the greatest affinity to its own nature : if it enter into 
this kind of contact with others, it feels a pain, the extent of 
which corresponds with the degree of difference. O happy they 
that have approached so near to the character of the Redeemer, 
as to come into connection with him, that is, attain to the felicity 
of beholding him ; they will then be in communion also with all 
his saints! In this manner also, those friends, who much re- 
semble each other in their moral character, will there abide to- 
gether, in eternal connection and harmonious union. From the 
preceding observations, we may therefore comprehend what 
will be the nature of communication in the world to come. The 
somnambulist reads in the soul of him with whom he is placed 
in rapport; there is no need of language for the purpose, and 
such also is the case after death, the one reads in the soul of 
the other. 

We have to thank animal magnetism, which was discovered 
about thirty years ago, for all these important developments ; 
but the following are not less important and instructive. 

Those persons in particular, who have very irritable nerves 
and a lively imagination, are very soon translated by animal 
magnetism, into this state of somnambulism and clearness of 
vision, by a regular and gentle stroking of the body. By means 
of this discovery it is now ascertained that all the hysteric fits of 
women, as well as hypochondriacism in men, are nothing more 
or less than a species of somnambulism, only that it does not 
arise from artificial manipulation, but from a debilitated consti- 
tution. 

Therefore, when a person falls into fits, either with or with- 
out convulsions, so that he loses his consciousness, and sees 
visions, associates with spirits, and utters the sublimest things, 
which far surpass his natural sphere of knowledge, it must on 
no account be regarded as anything divine, but as a real dis- 
ease, and as an aberration of nature from her regular and pre- 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 41 

scribed path. All that he says and does must be rationally 
examined, according to the word of God ; seasonable warnings 
and admonitions should be attended to ; but they are never, 
by any means, Divine revelations — not even then, when a per- 
son predicts future things which come to pass, for he stands in 
connection with the invisible world ; but, as his soul is still 
attached to his body, the connection is not perfect: he can not 
distinguish the images of his own imagination from spirits ; he 
knows and sees much that he did not know and see in his natu- 
ral state, but it is not all real, much less divine ; no regard 
should be paid to it, but rather every suitable means used to 
cure him of his disorder, for these aberrations have generally a 
distressing termination. Instances of this will be subsequently 
adduced. 

The causes from which a natural magnetic sleep may pro- 
ceed are chiefly the following : — , 

First : A lively and very irritable nervous system, and a vivid j 
imagination appertaining to it, both of which are generally f f 
found united. 

Secondly: An incessant occupation of the soul with super- _/ 
natural objects; for instance, when superstitious, ill-informed, 
.simple people are constantly thinking upon bewitchments and 
apparitions. Even if they be, at the same time, vile and repro- 
bate characters, they may at length be brought, by this means, 
into a real connection with evil spirits, and then sorcery is no 
longer an idle tale. 

Sensual love, particularly in the female sex, is the most fer- 
tile source of magnetic fits, and hence arise horrible deceptions, 
particularly when religious feelings are intermixed with them. 
I am acquainted with many melancholy instances of this kind, 
to which, for the sake of persons still living, I will not now 
give publicity. 

A pious young woman visited the religious meetings which 
a pious but handsome and married, man held in his house. By 
degrees she fell in love with him; and, as insuperable difficul- 
ties stood in the way of her attachment, hex nerves at length 
succumbed in the conflict, and the poor unfortunate girl became 

4* 



42 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

a somnambulist. At the commencement she uttered the most 
sublime and glorious truths in her fits ; and she generally en- 
tered the crisis when present at these religious meetings. She 
predicted many things that were to happen in future, several 
of which were accomplished. She gained a number of follow- 
ers ; and the most sensible and well-informed regarded her as 
one that was inspired by the Spirit of God — in a word, as a 
prophetess. 

In her fits, she received information by degrees that the wife 
of the object of her affections was an abomination in the sight 
of God and his angels. This was gradually insinuated with 
such satanic cunning and hypocrisy, that the whole company, 
which consisted of several hundred persons, most devoutly be- 
lieved it. The poor woman was, therefore, confined in a 
remote place, by orders from the invisible world; she lost her 
reason and died raving mad ; and the widower then married 
the young woman, also by an order from the invisible world. 
The two principal actors and the whole of their adherents 
might be innocently mistaken previous to the cruel treatment 
of the man's first wife. The horrid crimes of this female and 
her followers are known to the world and substantiated by 
official documents. 

A common servant-girl in the north of Germany received, in 
a trance, the commission that she should bring forth the prince 
who should bear rule under Christ, in his approaching king- 
dom. A married clergyman, and in other respects a pious 
man, let himself be deceived by her : he believed her, and she 
really bore a son ; but my readers may judge whether he will 
become that to which his mother had destined him. A similar 
event took place a few years ago in the south of Germany. 

I knew a lady of sincere piety, who fell daily, of herself, 
into a perfect magnetic sleep. In this state she was extremely 
sublimely disposed : she saw Christ, associated entirely with 
angels ; she heard them sing, sang with them, and said things 
which were astonishing. At length, the spirit whom she took 
for Christ — or perhaps a creature of her own imagination, 
which she took for him — annonuced to her that she would die 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 43 

at six o'clock the next morning. The good woman passed the 
night in a state of painful conflict; in the morning, those that 
were about her stopped the clock, spoke with her on a variety 
of subjects, and thus the time passed over. She was afterward 
easily convinced that all she had seen were delusive appear- 
ances, and her fits also ceased. 

Finally, a person that is holy and devout, by long exercising 
himself in walking in the Divine presence, may fall into this 
state of magnetic sleep. But the case is very different then : 
it is immediately evident from what source his expressions 
flow ; and yet, even here, it is necessary to be extremely cau- 
tious, and not regard everything as a Divine communication or 
revelation. Experience teaches that persons far advanced in 
piety may fall into this state of natural magnetic sleep, and also 
enter into connection with good spirits and even angels ; but 
even good spirits do not know everything, particularly while 
they continue in hades, and have merely learned what they 
know from others. Vain and false spirits frequently interfere 
on these occasions, and seek to deceive and mislead the seer. 
These study his inclinations and wishes, and then arrange the 
communications, imagery, and ideas, in such a manner as to 
gratify his favorite inclinations. Now, if he regards all this as 
a Divine revelation, he will be satisfied that his wishes are 
agreeable to God, and thus he may fall into the most dangerous 
errors. The truth and importance of this observation can not 
be too pressingly urged ; for if a man, or even a child, fall 
into a trance, or into any other state of supernatural elevation, 
and then begin to preach repentance, predict future things, and 
speak in a style to which he is naturally incompetent, the com- 
mon spectator, especially if he be religiously inclined, regards 
it all as Divine influence and revelation ; and the poor somnam- ^ — 
bulist himself believes it also, rejoices at it, is deeply affected 
by it, thanks God for it, and now the thought secretly arises in 
his mind that he is something particular, and that God has some 
great object in view with him; he comes into connection with 
false spirits of light, who strengthen him in such ideas by a variety 
of delusive imagery, and then the arch-enthusiast is completed. 



44 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

The entrance to this erroneous path has not been sufficiently- 
guarded, the reason of which is because philosophers and 
divines either do not understand how to guard it at all, or else 
not in a proper manner. Attend, my dear readers, as you 
value your eternal salvation, to the following infallible truths, 
which are of such importance in the present day: — 

The whole organization of human nature, and both reason 
and holy writ, testify, loudly and incontestably, that we mortals 
on this side the grave are referred solely to the visible world, 
and by no means to the world of spirits : he, therefore, who 
from curiosity seeks to learn either that which is concealed, or 
that which is future, commits a very heinous sin. Genuine 
faith and constant intercourse with God in Jesus Christ, un- 
ceasing watchfulness and prayer, and willingness to know 
nothing but Christ the crucified, places the human soul in 
rapport with God and Christ, through the medium of the Holy 
Spirit ; and when we neither wish nor seek anything else what- 
ever, we are secure against every error and aberration ; and, 
should anything supernatural manifest itself, we must continue 
calm, tranquil, and dispassionate, and examine minutely what 
the appearance is, and what its object, but in other respects 
take no further notice of it : if it be of God, it will know how 
to legitimate itself in such a manner as to make it impossible 
to be deceived ; and if it be from the world of spirits, the 
Christian should know how to act on the occasion. I will lay 
down, in the sequel, the most proper rules of conduct for his 
government, in all cases of this kind. 

I return to the object I had in view, which was the investi- 
gation of human nature, and its relation to the sensible world. 
There are a variety of diseases, which are ascribed to the 
nerves, and which act upon the ethereal part, or luminous 
body of the human soul ; and when such an individual possesses 
a lively imagination, incomprehensible things frequently occur. 
It often happens that such persons do not feel themselves ill ; 
all the vital functions pursue their course unhindered and with- 
out pain ; and yet these appearances result from a disordered 
organization of the body, and consequently form a disease. 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 45 

These individuals see such appearances, either in a waking 
state, so that they are fully conscious of every object and of 
themselves also, or else they are out of themselves, fall into a 
trance, and thus into magnetic somnambulism, in which state 
they see those appearances. But here arises the difficult ques- 
tion, where do those appearances cease which are merely 
founded in the nature of man, and where do those commence 
which have their origin in the invisible world ? 

It is possible for a person in the state abovementioned to see 
angels and spirits — he may have intercourse even with God 
and Christ — and yet all this be a mere delusion of the imagina- 
tion ; for they are only images which were previously formed 
in it, except that, by disease, they are become equally as lively 
as those which we receive through the outward senses. I knew 
a pious female, who in her trance was surrounded with angels 
and conversed with them too. At length the angels began to 
sing, and the pious soul sang with them : and what was it 1 A 
miserable ballad-singer, and a common national air. Persons 
in this diseased state often speak with so much wisdom and 
understanding, upon subjects of which they were thought to 
possess scarcely the initial knowledge, that it is really astonish- 
ing ; and if they be pious and awakened people, they often 
preach, and that better, too, than many a right reverend 
divine. We have instances on record of men having travelled 
about the country, preached repentance, and awakened many 
from a sleep of sin ; and yet all this was the result of a nervous 
disorder, and of a natural elevation produced by magnetic 
sleep * I willingly allow that Eternal Love can make use even 
of this means to bring sinners to repentance ; but it must not 
be regarded as anything divine, nor as the inspiration of the 
Holy Ghost ; for, in this case, the greatest errors may result 
from it. It is to be lamented that these extraordinary preach- 
ers, from want of sufficient self-knowledge themselves, believe 
that the Holy Spirit speaks through them ; and when their 

* Our author gives a remarkable example of this in his " Theobald, or the I'm 
thusiasts," inserted in No. 1 of the "Instructive Narrations," page 131, recently 
published. 



46 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

hearers believe it likewise, however many erroneous things the 
preacher may say, they are all regarded as the word of God 
and therefore as true. On such occasions, everything should 
be minutely and rigidly examined by the Word of God and 
sound reason; but, in other respects, no value should be 
attached to these things, much less ought they to be declared 
divine ; we ought rather to seek to cure such persons in a 
regular manner. 

The highest species of apparitions, which have their founda- 
tion in human nature, is, incontestably, when a person still 
living can show himself in some distant place. However much 
this may have been ridiculed as the most absurd superstition, 
yet so certain and positive are the facts narrated, that the mat- 
ter is placed beyond a doubt ; and many of my readers will 
probably remember some incident or other of this kind. I do 
not speak here of such apparitions as have shown themselves, 
immediately after death, to some particular friend, but of those 
that have made such a visit while the individual still animated 
a living body. Instances are known to me, in which persons 
who were sick were seized with an indescribable longing to 
see a certain friend ; they soon after fell into a swoon, and, 
during the time, they appeared to the distant object of their 
longing. But the following narrative exceeds all I ever read 
or heard upon this subject : it comes from a credible source, 
and possesses all the characteristics of historic veracity. 

About sixty or seventy years ago, a man of piety and integ- 
rity arrived in Germany from Philadelphia, North America, to 
visit his poor old parents, and, with his well-earned wealth, 
to place them beyond the reach of care. He went out to 
America while he was still young, and had succeeded so far as 
to become overlooker of various mills on the Delaware river, in 
which situation he had honorably laid up a considerable sum. 
This respectable individual related to one of my friends, upon 
whose veracity T can depend, the following wonderful tale: — 

In the neighborhood of Philadelphia, not far from the mills 
abovementioned, there dwelt a solitary man in a lonely house. 
He was very benevolent, but extremely retired and reserved, 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 47 

and strange things were related of him, among which was his 
being able to tell a person things that were unknown to every- 
one else. Now it happened, that the captain of a vessel be- 
longing to Philadelphia, was about to sail to Africa and Europe. 
He promised his wife that he would return in a certain time, 
and also that he would write to her frequently. She waited 
long, but no letters arrived: the time appointed passed over, 
but her beloved husband did not return. She was now deeply- 
distressed, and knew not where to look for either counsel or 
consolation. At length, a friend advised her for once to go to 
the pious solitary, and tell him her griefs. The woman follow- 
ed his advice, and went to him. After she had told him all her 
troubles, he desired her to wait a while there, until he returned 
and brought her an answer. She sat down to wait, and the man 
opening a door, went into his closet. But the woman thinking 
he stayed a long time, rose up, went to the window in the door, 
lifted up the little curtain, and looking in, saw him lying on the 
couch or sofa like a corpse ; she then immediately went back to 
her place. At length he came and told her that her husband 
was in London, in a coffeehouse which he named, and that he 
would return very soon : he then told her also the reason why- 
he had been unable to write. The woman went home pretty 
much at ease. 

What the solitary had told her was minutely fulfilled, her 
husband returned, and the reasons of his delay and his not wri- 
ting were just the same as the man had stated. The woman 
was now curious to know what would be the result, if she visit- 
ed the friendly solitary in company with her husband. The vis- 
it was arranged, but when the captain saw the man, he was 
struck with amazement ; he afterward told his wife that he had 
seen this very man, on such a day (it was the very day that the 
woman had been with him), in a coffeehouse in London ; and 
that he had told him that his wife was much distressed about 
him ; that he had then stated the reason why his return was de- 
layed, and of his not writing, and that he would shortly come 
back, on which he lost sight of the man among the company* 
* See Note 3. 



48 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

This most singular narrative, which is totally inexplicable 
and incredible, according to the common system of materialism, 
can be explained only according to my theory of human nature, 
and its possibility demonstrated. For this purpose, I must re- 
fer to the indubitable facts, for which we are indebted to ani- 
mal magnetism. 

It is now an evident and established truth, that there is, in the 
human frame, a subtle luminous body, an ethereal covering of 
the immortal rational spirit, which has undeniably manifested 
itself in magnetism, galvanism, electricity, and in sympathy and 
antipathy, and shown itself operative in a variety of ways ; with 
this body the rational spirit is eternally and inseparably connect- 
ed. In the foregoing pages, I have denominated this eternal 
luminous body, the human soul. 

This human soul, by an artificial stroking, or magnetizing, 
can be detached from the nervous system in a numberless vari- 
ety of degrees, and become a free agent, according to the ex- 
tent of the degree of detachment ; certain diseases, and like- 
wise certain medicines, or rather, poisonous plants, are capable 
of producing the same effect. 

In the inferior degrees of this detachment, consciousness re- 
mains, but the imagination is more lively, so that the man be- 
lieves he really sees and hears what he merely imagines. 

Natural sleep is also one species of detachment. When the 
organic machine of the body, or rather the nerves, become 
wearied to a certain extent, the human soul forsakes these or- 
gans, in so far as they belong to the senses ; for, from the latter 
alone proceeds our consciousness of the visible world ; the soul, 
however, continues to act of itself; and if this take place in so 
lively a manner, as to make an impression on the inward organs 
of sense, we then remember it on awaking, and call it a dream. 

This detachment is some degrees more complete in the com- 
mon sleep-walkers, and has a similarity to magnetic somnambu- 
lism : in this case the human soul acts more freely, it dreams 
more connectedly and distinctly, and to such a degree, that the 
nervous system, and consequently the body also, is set in mo- 
tion, although the senses are all at rest; and as the man in this 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 49 

state is not actuated by the sensible world, but by the connec- 
tion of ideas in the soul, actions ensue which do not belong to 
the natural order of things : but these very actions as every one 
knows, are much more perfect in themselves, than when per- 
formed in a wakeful state ; whence it is again evident, that the 
human soul, when delivered from the bonds of the body, can 
act much more freely, perfectly, and actively ; it then neither 
sleeps nor slumbers, nor is wearied any more for ever. 

In the common fits of hypochondriacal and hysteric persons, as 
also of those who are afflicted with worms, the degrees of de- 
tachment are likewise very various, consequently the exhibitions 
and actions also which proceed from them; but at death it is 
complete. Of this I will treat at large in the chapter on appari- 
tions. 

It is, therefore, an incontestable experimental truth, that the 
human soul can be detached in an infinite number and variety 
of degrees, even to entire separation from the body, and is able 
to act freely of itself, according to the degree of this detach- 
ment. 

There may be those to whom this detachment is a very easy 
matter, and, assisted by secret means, may even be carried so 
far, that the human soul leaves the body for a short time, per- 
forms something at a distance, and returns to the body again : 
but this, however, must take place in a very short time, before 
the blood loses its fluidity. We have several instances of the 
occurrence of this in diseased persons. I will now explain, 
according to my theory, this rare and most remarkable phe- 
nomenon, with reference to the American instance above related, 
which is the most perfect of its kind. 

"When the soul is in a state of detachment from its sensitive 
organs, while still in the body, consciousness of the visible world 
ceases so long as the detachment lasts. The soul, however, lives 
and acts in the sphere of its knowledge, and enters at length, 
by frequent repetition of this state, inlo connection with the 
world of spirits : it is no longer sensible of anything in the visi- 
ble world ; it sees and hears no one except those with whom it 
is placed in rapport, which is accomplished by bringing the 

5 



50 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

psychical atmosphere of both into contact with each other, ac- 
cording to certain laws. With such persons the soul can have 
intercourse and converse, and from them it learns what is pas- 
sing around it in the visible world at the time. 

Now, supposing the American abovementioned possessed 
the capability, either from nature or by some secret means, or 
by both, to detach his soul at pleasure entirely from the body, 
and unite it again with the body, he could therefore place him- 
self in a state of the most perfect somnambulism — by the phe- 
nomena and experiments of which everything must now be 
explained. His soul, therefore, forsook its body, with the will 
to ask the captain the reason of his protracted stay, and of his 
not writing. As soon as it left the body, it was no longer sen- 
sible of anything in the material world, and was in the world 
of spirits, where no space can separate. The moment, there- 
fore, the soul forsook the body, it was already in London with 
the captain of the vessel ; and if he had been in China, or any- 
where else, its magic will would have carried it thither. 

The human soul, abstractedly considered, is invisible — it is 
naturally not obvious to the senses — but it can make itself 
visible in two ways : first, by attracting atmospheric substances, 
and forming out of them a body like its own ; and secondly, by 
placing itself in rapport with the person to whom it wishes to 
appear. In the former case, it may be seen by many persons ; 
but then every one perceives that the apparition is no human 
being, but a spirit ; in the latter case, it is only visible to him 
with whom it stands in rapport, by acting in such a lively 
manner on his soul and organs of sense, that he sees the per- 
son before him as clearly as if he were present in his own 
body. This remark I shall also subsequently elucidate, very 
clearly and completely, in the chapter on the apparition of 
spirits. 

The American certainly appeared to the captain according 
to the second mode, for in the first a great sensation would 
have been excited among those that were present ; and who 
knows what might have been the consequence of it to the indi- 
vidual himself? 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 51 

I could relate several instances of this kind, but this one may 
suffice, in order not to make this work too prolix. 

The singular phenomenon when persons see themselves, or 
appear to themselves, is not rare, and may take place in two 
ways : first, when the person who sees himself is alone con- 
scious of the apparition, while others who are present see noth- 
ing. In this case, the appearance may be merely natural, and 
founded in human nature ; but where it is seen by several, it 
then belongs to the invisible world, and to the following chapter 
on presentiments. 

Should any one ask how it is possible for a man to appear to 
himself, or how this self-sight is founded in human nature, I 
answer that, in order to this, nothing more is requisite than to 
see angels and spirits where there are none, or at least where 
they are not obvious to the senses. The celebrated Frederick 
Nicolai, of Berlin, fell once into a state in which he saw many 
spiritual beings around him, which all gradually vanished on 
making use of laxative and cathartic medicines.* Now, just as 
other forms may be so vividly impressed upon the imagination 
as to resemble the external sensible impressions, so the same 
impressions may also be made by one's own figure. 

I have proposed the question above : " Where do those ap- 
pearances cease which originate merely in human nature, and 
where do those commence that are connected with the world 
of spirits ?" My answer is as follows : — 

As long as an apparition only speaks such things as a person 
in a state of unnatural exaltation may know, the appearance is 
a mere creature of the imagination, in some inferior degree of 
magnetic somnambulism ; but when it says things which it is 
naturally impossible for the person to know, and when these 
things are afterward found to be t7 - ue, the person that has these 
appearances stands in connection with the invisible world. 
But this may also be the case, although not all that is said 
comes to pass, and even some things not at all ; because even 
good spirits may still be mistaken, and the bad intentionally 
mislead. 

* See Note 4. 



52 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

There is still something of importance to be observed which 
lies in human nature ; and that is, the capability of having inter- 
course or connection with the spiritual world, on this side the 
grave, and during the present life. According to the laws of 
nature, this faculty ought not to be developed in our mortal 
frame ; because in this life we are far from possessing all that 
is necessary to try the spirits, and may therefore be dreadfully 
deceived and misled. But this faculty may be developed by 
certain diseases ; and there are also some in whom this develop- 
ment easily takes place. Now, as spirits, and particularly the 
departed souls of men which are still in hades, and would gladly 
have something performed #or executed in the world they have 
left, earnestly long for some one in the material world who may 
accomplish their wishes, they consequently rejoice greatly when 
they find a person who is already in connection with the world 
of spirits, or may be easily brought into it : they therefore ap- 
pear to this person, and entreat him to fulfil their desires. 
When I come to treat upon the apparition of spirits, I will 
clearly point out what is to be done in such a case — what is 
duty, and what is not duty. 

The inhabitants of the invisible world are only sensible of the 
spiritual world, and not in the smallest degree of our material 
or visible world — in the same manner as we are sensible only 
of the latter and not of the former. The spiritual world is in 
the same place with the material or visible world ; we are re- 
ally in it, but we perceive nothing of it, even as the spirits are 
with us and about us, without perceiving anything of us, with 
the exception of the good and evil angels : they are sensible of 
us, and can act upon us ; but the departed souls of men can 
not do so, except when they find any one with whom they are 
able and permitted to enter into connection. 

Hades is in our atmosphere, and extends downward into the 
body of the earth where hell begins ; it also extends upward to 
the residence of the blessed, in pure ether. But of this I shall 
treat more at large in its proper place.* 

A certain pious person, who had the fortune, or rather the 
misfortune, to stand in connection with the world of spirits, 
* Sec Note 5. 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 53 

maintained that the apparition of a human being from the visible 
world, was just as appalling and terrific as their appearance is 
to us, so that the affair they have at heart must be weighty and 
oppressive, when they resolve upon seeking any one with whom 
they can enter into connection; notwithstanding this, they are 
very glad when they find a person of this description. Both 
these assertions may well consist together. 

But wherein does the capability of entering into intercourse 
or connection with spirits properly consist ? 

1. A natural disposition to it consists in this : when the ethe- 
real part or luminous body of the human soul does not imbibe 
many heavy particles from ihe blood, but keeps itself pure ; by 
which means it borders more closely upon the invisible world. 
This does not depend, however, on the will of man, but on the 
internal organization of the body. 

2. When the luminous body of the human soul receives any 
particular accumulation of power, so that it becomes more ac- 
tive than is necessary for life and sensation, it may then happen 
that the individual may appear in the invisible world, and have 
intercourse with its inhabitants. 

Both of these causes may be produced by disease, by mag- 
netism, by natural means derived from the three kingdoms of 
nature, and by other magic and mystic arts ; but it is improper, 
dangerous, and generally very sinful and criminal to make use 
of such means to attain this capability, contrary to the order of 
God and nature. I will not, however, on this account, accuse 
certain respectable individuals, who stand in connection with the 
spiritual world, of committing a crime ; there may be excep- 
tions to the rule, and it may be the will of God to use such in- 
struments for his service ; but when this is the case, he will lead 
such persons, by his providence, whither he designs to have 
them, without their own seeking it. It is, and ever will be, cul- 
pable presumption to seek intercourse with spirits from our own 
impulse. 

The most remarkable individual of this kind was, undoubted- 
ly, the famous ghost-seer, Swedenborg; and this is the place 
where I must notice him at some length. He had the natural 

5* 



54 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

disposition to intercourse with the invisible world ; and as so 
much has been written for and against this extraordinary man, 
I regard it as my duty to publish the real truth respecting him, 
having had the opportunity of obtaining it pure and unmingled. 

Swedenborg was the son of a preacher in Sweden ; his char- 
acter was that of honesty and sincerity, and he possessed great 
talents for learning, by which he profited, and devoted himself 
to the study of philosophy and natural history, but particularly 
to mineralogy, metallurgy, chemistry, and geology. In order to 
perfect himself still more in the latter of these sciences, he un- 
dertook long journeys through Europe, and then returned to his 
native country, where he was admitted as a member of the geo- 
logical board. He has written a couple of thick folios, the con- 
tents of which are philosophical ; they contain a well-digested 
system of philosophy, which, however, was not favorably re- 
ceived. He then wrote two other thick folio volumes, on cop- 
per and iron, which still maintain their acknowledged value. 
To the surprise of every one, this able, learned, and pious man 
fell into intercourse with spirits. He made so little a mystery 
of this, that frequently at table, before a numerous company, 
and when engaged in the most rational and scientific conversa- 
tion, he would say, that he had just before spoken on this or that 
point with the apostle Paul, or with Luther, or with some one 
who had long been dead. Tt is easy to conceive that those pres- 
ent gaped and stared at him with every mark of astonishment, 
and doubted whether he was in his right senses. However, he 
occasionally furnished proofs, which were unobjectionable. It is 
true that these statements have been controverted, and the good 
man accused of deception ; but the latter I loudly deny. Swe- 
denborg was no deceiver, but a pious and religious man, but 
who might still be occasionally deceived and mistaken. The 
three following proofs of his having intercourse with spirits are 
universally known : — 

1. The queen of Sweden put him to the test, by commission- 
ing him to tell her what she had spoken on a certain remarkable 
occasion with her deceased brother, the prince of Prussia, in 
Charlottenherg, if I mistake not. After some time, Sweden- 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 53 

borg announced himself, and stated to her what had passed. 
The queen was deeply struck with it, as may be easily supposed. 
This fact has been controverted in the public papers ; but a 
Swedish nobleman, who was, in other respects, no admirer of 
Swedenborg, assured me, that the matter was most unquestion- 
ably true.* He gave me also other proofs of it which I scruple 
to make public, in order not to compromise certain individuals ; 
this being generally the case with matters that relate to the in- 
visible world. 

2. Swedenborg arrived at Gottenburg, from England, with 
a company of travellers. He there said he had learned from 
the angels that there was at that moment a fire in Stockholm, 
in such a street. Among those present were some who resided 
at Stockholm, and who felt uneasy at this intelligence ; but he 
came to them soon afterward, and said that they need not be 
alarmed, for the fire was extinguished. The next day they 
learned that such had been exactly the case. This is a fact 
which is most certainly true. 

3. A respectable widow was called upon to pay a consider- 
able sum of money, which she was confident her deceased hus- 
band had already paid, but she could not find the receipt. In 
her distress she went to Swedenborg, and entreated him to ask 
her husband where the receipt was laid. Some days after, 
Swedenborg told her that the receipt was in a certain press, at 
the bottom, in a concealed drawer, where it was immediately 
found.t This fact has been thus explained : Swedenborg knew 
where the receipt was, and had merely made the woman believe 
he had ascertained it from her husband. I know to a certainty 
that it would have been morally impossible for this pious man 
to have acted in such a manner. If he had known of the re- 
ceipt, he would certainly have told the distressed widow where 
it was on her first visit.t 

* A respectable Wurtemburg divine wrote to the queen on the subject ; she an- 
swered his letter and testified to the truth of it. t See Note 6. 

t For a fuller and much more satisfactory and convincing account of these inci- 
dents in the life of Swedenborg, see " Documents, " ccc, concerning him, edited by 
George Bush, and published by John Allen, 139 Nassau street, New York. The 
Biographies of Swedenborg by Hobart, Wilkinson, Rich, and Barrett, may also be 
consulted. 



56 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

But I must now add a fourth experimental proof, which has 
never been previously made public, and is fully as important as 
any one of the foregoing. I can vouch for the truth of it with 
the greatest confidence. 

About the year 1770, there was a merchant in Elberfeld with 
whom, during seven years of my residence there, I lived in 
close intimacy. He was a strict mystic in the purest sense. 
He spoke little ; but what he said, was like golden fruit on a 
salver of silver. He would not have dared, for all the world, 
knowingly to have told a falsehood. This friend of mine, who 
has long ago left this world for a better, related to me the fol- 
lowing tale. 

His business required him to take a journey to Amsterdam, 
where Swedenborg at that time resided ; and having heard and 
read much of this strange individual, he formed the intention 
of visiting him, and becoming better acquainted with him. He 
therefore called upon him, and found a very venerable-looking, 
friendly old man, who received him politely, and required him 
to be seated ; on which the following conversation began : — 

The merchant. Having been called hither by business, I could 
not deny myself the honor, sir, of paying my respects to you. 
Your writings have caused me to regard you as a very remark- 
able man. 

Swedenborg. May I ask you where you are from ? 

Merch. I am from Elberfeld, in the grand-duchy of Berg. 
Your writings contain so much of what is beautiful and edify- 
ing, that they have made a deep impression upon me : but the 
source whence you derive them is so extraordinary, so strange, 
and uncommon, that you will perhaps not take it amiss of a 
sincere friend of truth if he desire incontestable proofs that you 
really have intercourse with the invisible world. 

Swed. It would be very unreasonable if I took it amiss ; but 
I think I have given sufficient proofs, which can not be contra- 
dicted. 

Merch. Are they those, that are so well known, respecting 
the queen, the fire in Stockholm, and the receipt 1 

Swed. Yes, those are they, and they are true. 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 57 

Merch. And yet many objections are brought against them. 
Might I venture to propose that you give me a similar proof? 

Swed. Why not 1 Most willingly ! 

Merck. I had formerly a friend who studied divinity at Duis- 
burg, where he fell into a consumption, of which he died. I 
visited this friend a short time before his decease : we conversed 
together on an important topic. Could you learn from him 
what was the subject of our discourse ? 

Swed. We will see. What was the name of your friend ? 

The merchant told him his name. 

Swed. How long do you remain here 1 

Merch. About eight or ten days. 

Siucd. Call upon me again in a few days. J will see if I can 
find your friend. 

The merchant took his leave, and despatched his business. 
Some days after, he went again to Swedenborg, in anxious ex- 
pectation. The old gentleman met him with a smile, and said : 
" I have spoken with your friend ; the subject of your discourse 
was, the restitution of all tilings." He then related to the 
merchant, with the greatest precision, what he and what his 
deceased friend had maintained. 

My friend turned pale, for this proof was powerful and in- 
vincible. He inquired further : " How fares it with my friend ? 
Is he in a state of blessedness 1" Swedenborg answered, " No, 
he is not yet in heaven ; he is still in hades, and torments him- 
self continually with the idea of the restitution of all things." 
This answer caused my friend the greatest astonishment. He 
ejaculated, " My God ! what, in the other world?" Sweden- 
borg replied : " Certainly ; a man takes with him his favorite 
inclinations and opinions, and it is very difficult to be divested 
of them. We ought, therefore, to lay them aside here." My 
friend took his leave of this remarkable man perfectly convinced, 
and returned back to Elberfeld. 

What says highly-enlightened infidelity to this 1 It says, 
" Swedenborg was a cunning fellow, and he employed a secret 
spy to get the matter out of my friend." To this I candidly 
reply, that Swedenborg was of too noble a mind, and had too 



58 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

much of the fear of God, and my friend was too discreet to act 
in such a manner. Such like evasions belong under the head 
of the " transfiguration of the Redeemer by means of moon- 
shine !" 

It is a matter which no longer admits of a doubt, that Swe- 
denborg had frequent intercourse with the inhabitants of the 
invisible world for many years ; but it is equally certain that 
his imagination occasionally deceived him, and that certain spir- 
its gave him at times wrong information. His writings contain 
a great deal that is beautiful, and instructive, and credible, but 
also, in places, such incomprehensibly absurd and senseless 
things, that it requires an exercised spirit of examination to 
peruse them with profit. 

Swedenborg's chief error consisted in believing himself that 
God had opened his inward sense, and chosen him for the pur- 
pose of making known, in these last times, those mysteries that 
were hitherto concealed, and of laying the foundation of the 
Lord's kingdom. It is easy, however, to conceive how he 
might be thus deceived : for as he obtained his acquaintance 
with the world of spirits so suddenly and unsought, and as he 
was not sufficiently acquainted with human nature as that he 
could have supposed there was such a thing as a disposition of the 
body which deviates from the laws of nature — a sort of disease, 
by which the individual may become connected with the invisi- 
ble world — I say it could not be otherwise ; he must necessa- 
rily believe that these revelations came immediately from God : 
and as soon as he believed this, he regarded everything as true 
that was revealed to him, and consequently himself also as a 
prophet sent from God. From such ideas abominable errors 
and mistakes may arise, and yet the person may not believe 
that he sins, because he regards them as being the result of a 
Divine command.* 

* It is evident, we think, that Stilling thought highly of Swedenborg on the whole, 
and intended to do him no injustice, hut we are still constrained to enter our protest 
against the author's verdict in this and the foregoing paragraph. The claims of Swe- 
denborg to the character of a divinely-enlightened and divinely-commissioned mes- 
senger of Heaven to men, have been more thoroughly canvassed since the time of 
Stilling, and the conviction has obtained much deeper ground that his reports of the 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 59 

Animal magnetism and an extensive medical experience 
have taught and incontrovertibly convinced me that the immor- 
tal spirit, the divine spark in man, is inseparably united with an 
ethereal or luminous body ; that this human soul, which is des- 

facts and phenomena of the other life are altogether reliable. As to the charge 
urged by our author against Swedenborg's writings, that with much "of what is 
beautiful, instructive, and credible," there is t till mixed up not a little of what is "in- 
comprehensibly absurd and senseless." we can only say that it would never be brought 
by one wbo was actually conversant with bis works and the psychological prin- 
ciples which they inculcate. Many things affirmed by Swedenborg have doubtless 
at the first blush an incredible and revoking air, but when the laws involved in 
them are developed, they usually assume entirely another aspect, and commend 
themselves to acceptance on the ground of their intrinsic rationality. Stilling is evi- 
dently willing to admit that Swedenborg's spiritual senses were opened to behold the 
things in the spiritual world, and that for many years he had frequent intercourse with 
the inhabitants of that world, and yet he deems it an error for Swedenborg to have 
believed " that God had opened his inward senses, and chosen him for the purpose 
of making known, in these last times, those mysteries that were hitherto concealed, 
and of laying the foundation of the Lord's kingdom." In the place of any formal 
reply to this we will insert a paragraph or two from the first number of the " Swe- 
denborg Library," published by Professor Bush: — 

" The inquiry will indeed spontaneously arise, whether these alleged revelations 
are anything more than the mere embodied visionings of a disordered brain. Our 
answer is, read and weigh — consult consciousness and give scope to reason — and 
the conviction will bear down with overwhelming force, that if man's nature here 
be what we know it is, his state hereafter must be what Swedenborg says it will be. 
The profoundest philosophy lies at the basis of all his revelations. Miracles might 
compel attention, but truth must shine in upon the soul by its own light. To be led 
' rationally and in freedom' in matters of religion, is the grand prerogative of man. 
Upon no subject is Swedenborg more emphatic than in regard to the intrinsic insuf- 
ficiency of mere visions, revelations, and converse with the dead, to work a regen- 
erating change in the human mind. He therefore says in effect, ' Do not believe 
me simply because I have seen heaven and hel! — have discoursed with angels — 
and been admitted to the precincts of the Divine presence. Believe me because I 
tell you what your consciousness and intuitions will tell you, if you listen calmly to 
their voice. Enter into the sanctuary of your own soul. You will there recognise 
the principles which, from their very nature, must result in just such eternal actual- 
ities as I disclose to you. I have been permitted to behold the realizations simply 
in order that light might be reflected more powerfully back upon the elemental prin- 
ciples out of which they spring. The objective ha9 been to me a handmaid to the 
subjective. If you do not see the truth of my developments authenticated by the 
oracles of your own mind, reject them. I have no miracles to ofter as proof ', and if 
I had they would be unavailing, in the lack of internal evidence.' 

" Such is the virtunl claim of Emanuel Swedenborg. Can anything be more fair, 
more meet, more rational? Is he not entitled to a hearing? Granting once the 
possibility of the disclosure in any case, is it not reasonable to weigh its evidence 
in his case ? Does not the counsel of the scribes in regard to Paul indicate the true 



60 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

tined to be a citizen of the world of spirits, is, as it were, exiled 
into this earthly life and animal body, to which it is fettered by 
means of the nerves, and must be thus fettered to it, for the 
purposes of its ennoblement and perfection ; that this inward 

line of policy in respect to the Swedish seer : ' We find no evil in this man ; but if 
a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.' 

" It is undoubtedly true that many things occur in the theology of Swedenborg 
which stand in such direct antagonism with various articles of the current creeds 
of Christendom, that it can not well be otherwise than that their assertion should 
come with a kind of violent shock upon a faith long established ; and we are not 
unaware that the charge of a lax morality often has been, and probably often will 
be, brought against them. In reply to this, we submit that one great question — 
independent of all others, and paramount to all others — imperatively demands to 
be settled at the threshold of every inquiry in regard to the doctrinal character of 
his developments : Was the privilege accorded to Swedenborg of intromission into 
the spiritual world? — Did he converse with spirits and angels ? — Was he immedi- 
ately instructed by the Lord himself? This, we repeat, is the question of questions 
in regard to his claims, which is to be definitely settled in the outset, and that too 
upon its own merits, or by its own appropriate evidence. The receivers of his doc- 
trines contidently affirm, that a fair and candid survey of the psychological evidence 
in the case is decisive of the fact of a supernatural illumination — that in view of 
the peculiar character of the revelations, nothing but the admission of their truth 
will adequately account for the phenomena which they involve — that no hypothe- 
sis of designed imposture, of unconscious illusion, of morbid imaginings, of religious 
mania, or of demoniac influence, affords to the reflecting mind a satisfactory solution 
of the astounding problems that cluster about these disclosures. They contend that 
every such hypothesis is contradicted equally by the personal history of the man 
and by all the known characters of disordered intellect. They therefore most stren- 
uously protest against the invidious array of objectionable features of doctrine, while 
no attempt is made to confute, on solid grounds, the evidence of the disclosures. 
They insist that some rational explanation shall be given of the immense amount 
of philosophical truth embraced in the disclosures, if indeed this truth is at the same 
time mixed up with such a mass of falsehood and error in the doctrines, when yet 
the doctrines come through the medium of the disclosures. And if a real though 
honest hallucination be still urged as the true solution, they call aloud for the pro- 
duction of a single parallel instance in the whole annals of mental aberration. 
Here is a case where we find every property of the closest logic — the severest 
method — the most consecutive reasoning — the soundest judgment — the most 
symmetrical harmony and consistency of parts — the most lucid style — the most 
admirable coolness and sobriety in the description of scenes astonishing and exci- 
ting beyond measure — the most absolute freedom, in fine, from each and every 
symptom of extravagance, rapture, vagary, incoherence, and wildness, which is 
known to be inseparable, in some form or other, from every species of mental de- 
rangement, and especially when it assumes a religious phasis. If such character- 
istics be indicative of insanity, what, we may ask, is the evidence of sanity ? Who 
can be sure of not being himself an unsuspecting candidate for a lunatic asylum? 
Very possibly these characteristics may be denied of Swedenborg's mind. But 



THE NATURE OF MAN. 61 

and luminous being, during such incarceration, is destined to 
receive its instruction through the five organs of sense, and not 
through intercourse with the world of spirits ; but that by means 
of magnetism, by certain diseases, and by other instrumentality, 
it may be more or less divested of the bonds of the body, and 
enter into connection with the invisible world, which, however, 

by whom ? By those who have read his writings and weighed their contents in the 
balance of a candid reason ? Far from it. He will be cendemned. as he ever has 
been, by those who do not know what he has said, or who know it only from garbled 
extracts or distorted statements. Let his works be carefully pondered, and we do 
not hesitate to say that the reader's estimate will at least so far agree with ours that 
he shall readily grant, that if they are the effusions of a demented intellect, sucli mad- 
ness is without a precedent in human experience. Nor, if he admits the perfect 
sanity of the writer, and yet denies the truth of the revelations, will he find him- 
self any nearer to a satisfactory solution of the enigma. The fabrication of such a 
system, carried on through a space of nearly thirty years, and embodied in as many 
volumes, from the pure resources of any mere human intellect, however gifted, will 
not fail to strike him as the most incredible of all suppositions, even if he could rec- 
oncile the motive for such a stupendous lie with the known character of the man, 
which is palpably impossible. 

" We say then again, that the question must be first of all determined, whether 
Swedenborg was in truth made the subject of supernatural revelations. If he was, 
then his utterances are to be received as the voice of God to man. If he was not, 
then some adequate explanation must be given of the moral marvels that distinguish 
his case from every other that the world has witnessed. The conviction can not 
well be resisted, that whether his asserted revelations be true or false, the miracle is 
equally great. To a candid estimate Swedenborg stands forth either as the accred- 
ited messenger of God, or as the loftiest genius that humanity has ever enrolled in 
her ranks. The alternative is inevitable, and the world is to take its choice of the 
conclusions." 

As to the intimation that Swedenborg's imagination deceived him — that certain 
spirits gave him at times wrong information — and that he regarded every- 
thing as true that was revealed to him — suffice it to say that this must be regarded 
simply as the opinion of one who had not put himself in a condition to be a compe- 
tent judge. It is, moreover, always unfair to deal in wholesale statements of this 
nature without exact specification. It creates prejudice while it precludes the op- 
portunity of refutation. To those who are acquainted with Swedenborg's works, 
it is obvious that nothing is more unfounded than these insinuations. They every- 
where bear testimony that while he was permitted to converse with angels, with 
spirits, and with devils, he still understood the quality of those with whom he held 
intercourse, and that no doctrine was taken by him on the authority of any angel or 
spirit, but of the Lord alone. So far from being deceived by ignorant or wicked 
spirits, his writings afford the only sure means of protection against such deception, 
Had our amiable author studied them carefully himself he would have been spared 
many a chapter of bitter experience such as he has related of himself in his " The- 
obald, the Fanatic."— Ed. 

6 



62 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

is always something unnatural, and contrary to the principles 
of the Christian religion ; and finally, that its actions are so 
much the more perfect and volatile, the more it is divested of 
the body, in order to think, imagine, or, in a word, to make use 
of its understanding, reason, and will ; on the contrary, all the 
faculties of the soul or spirit are much more perfect when the 
inward man is freed from the body : it possesses the latter only 
for the purpose of being conscious of the visible world, and of 
acting in it. 

When once the new heavens and the new earth shall be com- 
pleted, then shall the souls of pious men, united to their resur- 
rection-body, be conscious, not only of the new and glorified 
visible world, but also of the world of spirits, and be able to 
act in both of them. 

I conclude this chapter with the urgent exhortation to avoid 
all connection with the world of spirits ; but if any one attain to 
intercourse with it unsought, let him withdraw himself from it 
in a charitable and Christian-like manner, and return to that 
regular order in which the Father of men has placed him on 
this side the grave. In the chapter on apparitions, I will lay 
down rules how we ought to act toward them. 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 03 



CHAPTER III. 

FOREBODINGS OR PRESENTIMENTS, PREDICTIONS, ENCHANT- 
MENTS, AND PROPHESYING. 

By foreboding, I understand a more or less obscure percep- 
tion of something that is taking place at a distance at the time, 
or that will shortly occur, without the individual being able to 
find the reason of such perception in the visible world. This 
is the simplest and purest idea of what is properly called fore- 
boding or presentiment. I have myself experienced such a 
presentiment three several times, as those of my readers will 
recollect who have read the history of my life. 

As it is impossible for us, in our present state, to know, even 
in the smallest degree, anything that is future, or that is taking 
place at a distance, except when we infer it from natural causes, 
true presentiments must therefore proceed from a higher source. 
I will therefore, first of all, treat of these latter. 

There are also those who, either by certain arts or diseases, 
or else by natural disposition, develop their faculty of presenti- 
ment, so that in certain cases they can learn, for themselves and 
others, what is taking place at a distance, or will shortly take 
place. I will seek to elucidate this important subject also : it 
has properly reference to predictions and divination ; at least 
they belong, in some respects, to this part of it. 

Sorcery or witchcraft has been reckoned under the most stu- 
pid kinds of superstition. I will endeavor, in the sequel, to 
show if there be anything in it, and what there is in it. 

Finally, I must likewise examine how the true spirit of proph- 
ecy may be distinguished from common predictions. I under- 
stand by the latter, when any one sees a vision by which some- 
thing future is made known to him, or when something is in- 
wardly revealed to him — that is, to his inward senses. 

Real presentiments, of which I will first speak, have refer- 



64 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

ence to men who by no means stand in rapport with the world 
of spirits, as well as to those who stand in this connection. 

Professor Boehm, of known respectability in Giesen and 
Marburg, where he regularly read public lectures on mathe- 
matics — a man of integrity, religious sentiments, a friend of 
truth, and anything else but an enthusiast — used frequently to 
relate the following tale : — 

Being one afternoon in pleasant society, where he was smo- 
king his pipe and taking his tea, without reflecting upon any 
particular subject, he all at once felt an impulse in his mind to 
go home. Now, as he had nothing to do at home, his mathe- 
matical reason told him he ought not to go home, but remain 
with the company. But the inward monitor became stronger 
and more urgent, so that at length every mathematical demon- 
stration gave way, and he followed his inward impulse. On 
entering his room, and looking about him, he could discover 
nothing particular ; but he felt a new excitement within him, 
which told him that the bed in which he slept must be removed 
from its place, and transported into another corner. Here like- 
wise reason began again to operate, and represented to him 
that the bed had always stood there, besides which it was the 
fittest place for it, and the other the most unfit ; but all this 
availed nothing, the monitor gave him no rest : he was obliged 
to call the servant, who moved the bed to the desired place. 
Upon this his mind was tranquillized, he returned to the com- 
pany he had left, and felt nothing more of the impulse. He 
stayed to supper with the company, went home about ten 
o'clock, then laid himself in his bed, and went to sleep very 
quietly. At midnight he was awakened by a dreadful cracking 
and noise. He arose from his bed, and then saw that a heavy 
beam, with a great part of the ceiling, had fallen exactly upon 
the place where his bed had previously stood. Boehm now 
gave thanks to the merciful Father of men for having graciously 
caused such a warning to be given him.* 

I know very well how the mateiialist will explain this stri- 
king and remarkable presentiment. He will say that the beam 
* See Note 7. 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 65 

had cracked the preceding night, and that Boehm had heard it 
indistinctly in his sleep, so that he was not clearly conscious of 
it. The obscure idea of danger, however, still lay in his soul; 
this idea became more lively, the nearer the period of danger 
approached, and at length manifested itself in the manner above 
stated. 

This explanation bears upon its surface a gleam of probability 
similar to that when the materialist seeks to explain light, either 
as proceeding from illumined bodies, or by the tremulons mo- 
tion of the ethereal fluid, occasioned by illumined bodies. But 
the more strictly these ideas are investigated, the more ground- 
less are they found to be : at length, contradictions are discov- 
ered, and they are seen to be impossible. If, by the cracking 
of the beam, a confused idea of danger had arisen in Boehm, 
during sleep, he would have felt, on awaking, a secret anxiety, 
a dread of something, of which he was ignorant — of which he 
might afterward perhaps have a confused recollection ; and 
then, without knowing why, might have ordered the bed to be 
i emoved to another place. 

But this was far from beinor the case with the mind of the 

o 

professor : it was at ease, and foreboded nothing ; and as, tow- 
ard evening, the impulse arose to go home, it disputed against 
it, which certainly would not have been the case had this im- 
pulse originated in his own mind. The same thing happened 
likewise when the bed was transported to another place : Boehm 
found it improper and inconvenient. 

But to such sophistry as this must the materialist have re- 
course, when he attempts to apply his mechanical laws to that 
which is supernatural. Something of this kind may give satis- 
faction to persons of this description, and to the superficial rea- 
soner ; but to the Christian Bible-philosopher, by no means ; 
the latter knows from his Bible, from the mouth of Truth itself, 
that there are whole hosts of good and evil angels, that can act 
upon the world and upon mankind. Christ teaches us expressly 
that children have guardian-angels, which continually behold 
the face of his heavenly Father (Matt, xviii. 10). These aogels, 
therefore, recognise in the face of God his will, and then accom- 

G* 



66 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

plish it in the children, as far as they are able and are not pre- 
vented ; and it is clear and evident, from Hebrews i. 14, and 
from many other passages and hints in the Holy Scriptures, that 
angels are instruments by which the Lord rules the whole cre- 
ation, and therefore our visible world likewise ; and that they 
serve as guardians to man, and warn him of danger, if it be- 
longs to the plan of the man's guidance. This warning takes 
place .in various ways, so as the warning angel can best act 
upon a person, and it is then called a presentiment. 

It was probably such an angel that whispered into Boehm's 
soul, " Go home !" and again afterward, " Move the bed away 
into yonder corner !" 

It is incomprehensible to me how men can prefer a machine 
which continually moves forward on its course by eternal and 
adamantine compulsion, according to the 'same irreversible laws 
and the same cold necessity, to a world filled with free agents ; 
and it is to me equally incomprehensible why those who believe 
in a world so glorious, and so consistent with the character of 
God, should be so deeply despised and ridiculed, and be attacked 
with such satanic malignity. This circumstance is, in reality, 
no mean proof in favor of my theocratic liberty ; because the 
mechanical system is altogether favorable to the kingdom of 
darkness, and most powerfully promotes it. Is not my view 
of such presentiments, and of the government of the universe 
in general, more tranquillizing, exhilarating, and more inciting 
to prayer and activity, and to inward confidence in the all-gra- 
cious Ruler of the universe, than that which regards man, in 
the mechanical system, as chained in an iron cage, and bound 
by eternal bonds of darkness, whom afterward an unchange- 
able destiny hurls away into endless space, without knowing 
whither % 

The merchant in whose employ I was formerly, from the 
year 1763 to 1770, and whom I have called " Spanier" in the 
narrative of my life, frequently related to me a remarkable pre- 
sentiment which he once had in Rotterdam. On commencing 
business, he took a journey into Holland for the purpose of 
forming connections for his extensive iron-works. But his 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 67 

chief attention was directed to Middleburg, in Zealand, to which 
place he had several recommendations from his friends, as well 
as to other towns in Holland. Having finished his business at 
Rotterdam, he went in the morning to the Middleburg market- 
boat, which was lying there at anchor, ready to sail at noon to 
Middleburg. He took and paid for his place, and then re- 
quested that a sailor might be sent to him at an inn, which he 
named, when the vessel was about to sail. He then went to 
the said inn, prepared for his voyage, and ordered some refresh- 
ment to be sent up to his room at eleven o'clock. When he 
had almost finished his repast, the sailor came to call him ; but 
as soon as the man opened the door, and the merchant cast his 
eyes upon him, he was seized with an unaccountable trepida- 
tion, together with an inward conviction that he ought not to go 
to Middleburg, so that all his reasoning against it was of no 
avail : and he was obliged to tell the sailor that he could not 
accompany him, to which the latter replied that if so, he would 
lose his fare ; but this mattered not — he felt himself compelled 
to stay. 

After the sailor was gone, the merchant coolly reflected on 
what might be the probable reason of this singular mental im- 
pulse. In reality, he was sorry and vexed at thus neglecting 
this important part of his journey, as he could not wait for the 
next market-boat. To banish his tedium and disappointment, 
he went out for a walk, and toward evening called at a friend's 
house. After sitting there a couple of hours, a great noise was 
heard in the street. Inquiry was made, and now they learned 
that the Middleburg market-boat, having been struck by light- 
ning, had sunk, and that not an individual was saved ! My 
readers may think what an impression this intelligence made 
upon the mind of the worthy traveller : he hastened home, and 
in retirement thanked God for this gracious warning. 

I can solemnly vouch for the truth of this relation ; and, when 
rightly considered, one would think it was impossible to explain 
it mechanically; but those who explain away the wonders of 
the Bible, would, however, soon accomplish it ; they would say, 
the heaviness of the atmosphere had produced, in the mind of 



68 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

the merchant, an obscure idea of clanger, and that this idea had 
fully developed itself on seeing the sailor. But in Rotterdam 
there was neither storm, nor a stormy atmosphere, only one sin- 
gle dark cloud had been observed in the distance, and my de- 
parted friend, with whom I associated for seven years, was not 
affected by the weather. But all such remarks as these, are of 
no avail : he that will not believe, will not be convinced, and he 
that is too proud to abandon the system he has once adopted 
and to let himself be taught different, continually finds some- 
thing to object to, and one has never done with him. It certain- 
ly was a protecting angel, that whispered to the soul of my 
friend, " Go not with them, or else some misfortune will befall 
thee." 

In the " Museum of Wonders," volume ii., chapter ii., page 
152, there is a striking instance of a presentiment, related by 
Madame de Beaumont, in the eighth volume of the " Universal 
Magazine for Art and Nature." She says, " My whole family 
still remembers an accident, from which my father was pre- 
served by a presentiment of danger. Sailing upon the river is 
one of the common amusements of the city of Rouen, in France. 
My father also took great pleasure in these water-parties, and 
he seldom suffered many weeks to pass over without enjoying 
it. On one occasion, he agreed with a party to sail to port St. 
Omer, about ten miles from Rouen. Dinner and musical in- 
struments had been sent on board the vessel, and every prepa- 
ration made for a pleasant excursion. When it was time to go 
on board, an aunt of my father's, who was deaf and dumb, ut- 
tered a kind of howl, placed herself at the door, blocked up the 
way with her arms, struck her hands together, and gave by 
signs to understand, that she conjured him to remain at home. 
My father who had promised himself much pleasure from this 
excursion, only laughed at her entreaties : but the lady fell at 
his feet, and manifested such poignant signs of grief, that he at 
length determined to yield to her entreaties, and postpone his 
excursion to another day. He therefore endeavored to detain 
the rest also ; but they laughed at him for being so easily per- 
suaded, and set sail. Scarcely had the vessel proceeded half the 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 69 

distance, before those on board had the greatest reason to re- 
pent that they had not followed his advice. The vessel went to 
pieces, several lost their lives, and those that saved themselves 
by swimming were so much terrified at their narrow escape, 
that they with difficulty got the better of it." 

No mechanical explanation can apply to this remarkable pre- 
sentiment. The warning angel found he could work on no one 
better than the person who was deaf and dumb, he therefore 
selected her for the execution of his commission. 

In the same volume of the " Museum of Wonders," page 
153, there is an equally striking presentiment related, which the 
editor had from the lips of a credible person. This individual 
had a friend who held an efficient situation in the country. Be- 
ing unmarried, he committed his domestic concerns to the care 
of a housekeeper, who had been with him many years. His 
birthday arrived, he made many preparations for celebrating it ; 
and told his housekeeper early in the morning, that as the day 
was fine, she should clean out a certain arbor in the garden, 
which he named, because he intended to pass the day in it with 
his guests. Scarcely had . she received this commission, than 
she seemed quite in a maze, and delayed the fulfilment of it. 
At length she entreated him rather to receive his guests in one 
of the rooms of the house, for she had a presentiment that the 
arbor would that day be struck by lightning. He laughed at 
her assertion as there was no appearance of a storm coming 
on that day, and on her renewing her entreaties, he was only 
the more urgent that the arbor he had pointed out should be 
made ready, that it might not appear that he gave way to her 
superstitious feelings. At length she went, and did as her mas- 
ter ordered her. The day continued fine, the company that had 
been invited arrived, they went into the arbor and made them- 
selves merry. In the meantime, however, clouds had gathered 
in the distant horizon, and were at length powerfully driven 
toward the place by the wind. The company were so intent 
upon their entertainment, that they did not in the least observe 
it ; but scarcely was the housekeeper aware that the storm was 
approaching, than she begged her master to leave the arbor 



70 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

with his company, for she could not divest herself at all of the 
idea of the lightning striking it. At first they would not listen 
to her, but she continued her entreaties unremittingly ; and at 
length, as the storm approached with great violence, they suf- 
fered themselves to be induced to leave the arbor. They had 
not been in the room more than a few seconds, when the light- 
ning struck the arbor, and dashed everything that had been left 
in it to pieces. 

Supposing the housekeeper to have had an urgent presentiment 
of an approaching thunderstorm, and the stroke of the light- 
ning ; yet such a foreboding could not possibly determine the 
place where it would strike. Thus events occasionally occur, 
which the materialist must either entirely deny, or if he can not 
do that, he must be silent at them. The whole narrative shows 
that the men that were in the arbor, were destitute of the sus- 
ceptibility requisite to hear the angel's voice : in the housekeep- 
er, therefore, the warning messenger found easier entrance, and 
made use of this medium for the accomplishment of his philan- 
thropic purpose. 

In the same work, I believe in the fourth chapter of the sixth 
volume, the dream of the celebrated Mr. Von Brenkenhof, which 
has also been elsewhere made public, is detailed. The truth of 
it is beyond a doubt. This gentleman dreamed one night, that 
he was in a desert and very dreary region, from which he longed 
to depart, he however saw a man who induced him to remain 
there, and he soon after saw this person, to whom he felt at- 
tached, expire. At the same time he saw a long train of peo- 
ple in a strange and unusual dress, and then he awoke. The 
countenance, and the whole exterior of the man whom he saw 
in his dream, made such an impression upon his imagination, 
that he almost saw him when awake. The whole scene was 
never obliterated from his memory, during his whole life. 
Some time afterward, he received a commission from Frederick 
II., king of Prussia, to proceed to Pomerania, in order to suc- 
cor those provinces which had been devastated by the Russians 
in the seven years' war. Brenkenhof journeyed thither, but 
found the wretchedness so great, and the more closely he ex- 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 71 

amined into it the greater he found it, that, despairing of being 
able to render any assistance, he determined to write to the 
king, and inform him that he could not devise any means, nor 
give any advice how the country might be restored to its for- 
mer state, particularly because of the deficiency of inhabitants. 

Occupied with these ideas, and while travelling to a certain 
place, a person came up to his coach, the sight of whom struck 
him with the greatest astonishment, for his appearance answered 
most exactly that of the man whom he had seen in his dream. 
It is easy to suppose that he was highly pleased at the sight of 
him, and immediately placed great confidence in him. He was 
the magistrate of that part of the country, and spoke to Mr. 
Von Brenkenhof in an encouraging manner, promised to assist 
him with his advice and co-operation, and thus induced him to 
commence the benevolent undertaking. 

Some time afterward, Brenkenhof learned that his friend was 
dangerously ill ; he hastened to him, and witnessed his dissolu- 
tion. That very day, or the following one, he saw a great num- 
ber of men, women, and children, and whole families, arrive. 
They were colonists from Poland, who intended to settle in the 
devastated province, and were thus instruments by which Bren- 
kenhof could carry his benevolent plans into execution. 

Now what was the real object of this presentiment ? It was 
not a warning from danger, nor did it give any hint either to 
do anything or to leave something undone. At first sight, this 
dream, although it was a true presentiment, appears devoid of 
any definite object : but if the matter be more closely examined, 
a very remarkable predetermination of Providence is observa- 
ble. If Brenkenhof had not seen, in a dream, the image of his 
subsequent benevolent friend, and if it had not made such an 
impression upon him, the sight of the man himself at his coach- 
door would not have struck him so forcibly, nor have given his 
whole soul such a lively impulse to act for the prosperity of 
that country. The whole dream was therefore an efficacious 
preparation for a most benevolent undertaking. That this 
dream was likewise produced by a good angel is evident, be- 
cause it could not naturally have originated in a human soul 



72 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

which was in a healthy state ; for it is not to be supposed that 
Brenkenhof was in the slightest degree a somnambulist. 

A most remarkable presentiment, by means of a dream, is 
related in the second section of the first volume of the " Museum 
of Wonders," and is to the following effect : — 

A short time before the princess Nagotsky, of Warsaw, trav- 
elled to Paris, she had the following dream. She dreamed that 
she found herself in an unknown apartment, when a man, who 
was likewise unknown to her, came to her with a cup, and pre- 
sented it to her to drink out of. She replied that she was not 
thirsty, and thanked him for his offer. The unknown individ- 
ual repeated his request, and added that she ought not to re- 
fuse it any longer, for it would be the last she would ever 
drink in her life. At this, she was greatly terrified, and awoke. 

In October, 1720, the princess arrived at Paris in good health 
and spirits, and occupied a furnished hotel, where, soon after 
her arrival, she was seized with a violent fever. She imme- 
diately sent for the king's celebrated physician, the father of 
Helvetius. The physician came, and the princess showed stri- 
king marks of astonishment. She was asked the reason of it, 
and gave for answer that the physician perfectly resembled the 
man whom she had seen at Warsaw in a dream ; " but," added 
she, " I shall not die this time, for this is not the same apartment 
which I saw, on that occasion, in my dream." 

The princess was soon after completely restored, and ap- 
peared to have completely forgotten her dream, when a new 
incident reminded her of it in a most forcible manner. She 
was dissatisfied with her lodgings at the hotel, and therefore 
requested that a dwelling might be prepared for her in a con- 
vent at Paris, which was accordingly done. The princess re- 
moved to the convent, but scarcely had she entered the apart- 
ment destined for her, than she began to exclaim aloud : " It is 
all over with me ; 1 shall not come out of this room again alive, 
for it is the same that I saw at Warsaw in my dream !" She 
died in reality not long afterward in the same room, in the be- 
ginning of the year 1721, of an ulcer in the throat, occasioned 
by the drawing of a tooth. 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 73 

This dream also proceeded from a good angel, who wished 
to attract the attention of the princess to her approaching end. 

But there are likewise presentiments which refer to such 
objects as do not appear to be worthy of the interference of a 
good spirit or angel. Instances of this are to be found in " Mo- 
ritz's Experimental Psychology," volume i., page 1. I will 
here insert the whole letter, as it was addressed to the editor : 

" You desire me to give you a written account of what I 
lately verbally related to you, regarding the soul's faculty of 
prescience. As my experience rests solely upon dreams, I have 
certainly reason to apprehend that many will take me for a fan- 
tastic dreamer ; but if I can contribute anything to the very use- 
ful object of your work, it is no matter — let people think what 
they will. Be that as it may, I vouch for the truth and veracity 
of what I shall now more particularly relate. 

" In the year 1768, while learning the business of an apothe- 
cary in the royal medical establishment at Berlin, I played in 
the seventy-second drawing of the Prussian numerical lottery, 
which took place on the 30th of May of the same year, and 
fixed upon the numbers 22 and 60. 

" In the night preceding the day of drawing, I dreamed that 
toward twelve o'clock at noon, which is the time when the lot- 
tery is generally drawn, the master-apothecary sent down to 
me to tell me that I must come up to him. On going up stairs, 
he told me to go immediately to Mr. Mylius, the auctioneer, on 
the other side of the castle, and ask him if he had disposed of 
the books which had been left with him for sale ; but that I 
must return speedily, because he waited for his answer. 

" ■ That's just the thing,' thought I, still dreaming; 'the lot- 
tery will just be drawing, and as I have executed my commis- 
sion, I will run quickly to the general lottery-office and see if 
my numbers come out' (the lottery was drawn at that time in 
the open street) : ' if I only walk quick, I shall be at home again 
soon enough.' 

"I went therefore immediately (still in my dream), in com- 
pliance with the orders I had received, to Mr. Mylius, the auc- 
tioneer, executed my commission, and, after receiving his an- 

7 



74 PNEUMATOLOGY 

swer, ran hastily to the general lottery-office, on the ' Hunters' 
Bridge.' Here I found the customary preparations, and a con- 
siderable number of spectators. They had already begun to 
put the numbers into the wheel — and the moment I came up, 
No. 60 was exhibited and called out. ' Oh,' thought T, ' it is a 
good omen, that just one of my own numbers should be called 
out the moment I arrive !' 

" As I had not much time, I now wished for nothing so much 
as that they would hasten as much as possible with telling in 
the remaining numbers. At length they were all counted in, 
and now I saw them bind the eyes of the boy belonging to the 
orphan-school, and the numbers afterward drawn in the cus- 
tomary manner. 

" When the first number was exhibited and called out, it was 
No. 22. 'A good omen again !' thought I; 'No. 60 will also 
certainly come out.' The second number was drawn — and 
behold, it was No. 60 ! 

" ' Now they may draw what they will,' said I to some one 
who stood near me; 'my numbers are out — I have no more 
time to spare.' With that, I turned myself about, and ran 
directly home. 

" Here I awoke, and was as clearly conscious of my dream 
as I am now relating it. If its natural connection, and the very 
particular perspicuity, had not been so striking, I should have 
regarded it as nothing else than a common dream, in the gen- 
eral sense of the term. But this made me pay attention to it, 
and excited my curiosity so much, that I could scarcely wait 
till noon. 

" At length it struck eleven, but still there was no appear- 
ance of my dream being fulfilled. It struck a quarter, it struck 
half-past eleven — and still there was no probability of it. I 
had already given up all hope, when one of the work-people 
unexpectedly came to me, and told me to go up stairs imme- 
diately to the master-apothecary. I went up full of expecta- 
tion, and heard witli the greatest astonishment that I must go 
directly to Mr. Mylius, the auctioneer, on the other side of the 
castle, and ask him if he had disposed of the books at auction 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 75 

which had been intrusted to him. He told me also, at the 
same time, to return quickly, because he waited for an answer. 

" Who could have made mpre despatch than I % I went in 
all haste to Mr. Mylius, the auctioneer, executed my commission, 
and, after receiving his answer, ran as quickly as possible to the 
general lottery-office, on the ' Hunters' Bridge f and, full of 
astonishment, I saw that No. 60 was exhibited and called out 
the moment I arrived. 

" As my dream had been thus far so punctually fulfilled, I 
was now willing to wait the end of it, although I had so little 
time ; 1 therefore wished for nothing so much as that they would 
hasten with counting in the remaining numbers. At length they 
finished. The eyes of the orphan-boy were bound, as custom- 
ary, and it is easy to conceive the eagerness with which I awaited 
the final accomplishment of my dream. 

" The first number was drawn and called out, and behold, it 
was No. 22 ! The second was drawn, and this was also as 1 
had dreamed, No. 60 ! 

" It now occurred to me that I had already stayed longer 
than my errand allowed ; I therefore requested the person who 
was next to me in the crowd to let me pass. ■ What,' said one 
of them to me, ' will you not wait till the numbers are all outT 
— 'No,' said I, 'my numbers are already out, and they may 
now draw what they please, for aught I care.' With that, I 
turned about, pushed through the crowd, and ran hastily and 
joyfully home. Thus was the whole of my dream fulfilled, not 
only in substance, but literally and verbatim. 

" It will perhaps not be disagreeable to you if I relate two 
other occurrences of a similar nature : — 

"On the 18th of August, 1776, I dreamed I was walking in 
the vicinity of the ' Silesian C4ate,' and intended to go home 
thence, directly across the field, by the Ricksdorf or Dresden 
road. 

" I found the field full of stubble, and it seemed as if the corn 
that had stood there had only been reaped and housed a short 
time before. This was really the case, although I had not pre- 
viously seen it. On entering the Ricksdorf road, I perceived 



76 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

that some persons had collected before one of the first houses, 
and were looking up at it. I consequently supposed that some- 
thing new had occurred in or before the house, and for this rea- 
son, on coming up, I asked the first person I met — 'What is 
the matter here V He answered with great indifference, ' The 
lottery is drawn.' — 'So,' said I, 'is it drawn already? What 
numbers are out V — ' There they stand,' replied he, and pointed 
with his finger to the door of a shop that was in the house, which 
I now perceived for the first time. 

" I looked at the door, and found that the numbers were writ- 
ten up, on a black border round the door, as is frequently the 
case. In order to ascertain if there was really a shop, with a 
receiving-house for the lottery, at the commencement of the 
Ricksdorf road, I did not think it too much trouble to go there, 
and found that this was really the case. To my great vexation, 
I found that only one of my numbers had come out. I looked 
over the numbers once more, in order not to forget them, and 
then went home disappointed. 

" On awaking, I was hindered, by an accidental noise, from 
immediately recollecting my dream, but shortly afterward it 
again occurred to me ; and, after a little reflection, I remem- 
bered it as clearly as I have now related it, but found it difficult 
to recollect all the five numbers. 

" That No. 47 was the first, and No. 21 the second of the 
numbers, I remembered perfectly well ; that the third which 
followed was a 6, I was also certain, only I was not confident 
whether the which I had seen hereabouts belonged to the 6 
or the following number 4, which I also remembered very dis- 
tinctly to have seen ; and, as I was not certain of this, it might 
have been just as well 6 and 4 alone, as 60 and 40. 

" I was the least confident as to the fifth number : that it was 
between 50 and 60 I was certain, but which I could not pre- 
cisely determine. I had already laid money upon No. 21, and 
this was the number which, according to my dream, should 
come out. 

" As remarkable as my dream appeared to be in other re- 
spects, yet T was diffident of it, from being unable to remember 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 77 

all the five numbers. Although I was quite certain that among 
the sixteen numbers mentioned — that is, those between 50 and 
60, and the six previously indicated — all the five which I had 
seen in my dream were contained ; and although there was still 
time enough to secure the numbers, yet it did not suit me, on 
account of the considerable sum it would require to stake upon 
all the sixteen numbers. ' I therefore contented myself with a few 
ambs and ternes, and had, besides this, the disappointment of 
selecting a bad conjunction of numbers. 

" The third day afterward (the 2 1st of August, 1776), the lot- 
tery was drawn. It was the two hundred and fifteenth draw- 
ing, and all the five numbers which I had seen in my dream 
came out exactly — namely, 60, 4, 21, 52, 42; and I now re- 
membered that No. 52 was the fifth of those which I had seen 
in my dream, and which I could not previously recollect with 
certainty. 

" Instead of some thousand dollars, I was now compelled to 
be contented with about twenty ! 

" The third, and, for the present, the last occurrence of this 
kind, which I shall relate, was as follows : — 

"On the 21st of September, 1777, I dreamed that a good 
friend of mine visited me, and after the conversation had turned 
upon the lottery, he desired that he might draw some numbers 
out of my little wheel of fortune which I had at that time. 

11 He drew several numbers, with the intention of staking- 
money upon them. When he had done drawing, I took all 
the numbers out of the wheel, laid them before me upon the 
table, and said to him, * The number which I now take up will 
certainly come out at the next drawing.' I put my hand into 
the heap and drew out a number, unfolded it, and looked at it : 
it was very plainly 25. I was going to fold it up and put it 
again into the wheel, but that very moment I awoke. 

" Having so clear a recollection of my dream, as I have now 
related it, I had much confidence in the number, and therefore 
staked so much upon it as to be satisfied with the winnings ; but 
two hours before the lottery was drawn, I received my money 
back from the lottery-agent, with the news that my number was 

7* 



78 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

completely filled up. The lottery was drawn on the 24th of 
September, and the number really came out. 

" Although I very willingly allow, and am well aware, that 
many and perhaps the generality of dreams arise from causes 
which are founded merely in the body, and therefore can have 
no further significance — yet I believe I have been convinced 
by repeated experience that there are not unfrequently dreams, 
in the origin and existence of which the body, as such, has no 
part ; and to these, in my opinion, belong the three instances 
above mentioned. 

" I do not think that the contents of these dreams ought to 
give occasion to any one to judge wrongfully ; for otherwise, I 
could just as well have selected others : but I have placed them 
together precisely because of their similarity. 

" Christ. Knape, 

" Doct. of Philosophy, Medicine, and Surgery." 

I have likewise sought out these three presentiments, because 
it is impossible to conceive of any deception of the imagination 
in them, or of any external concatenation of circumstances that 
might have afforded the soul materials to conjecture ; and, 
finally, because they have all the qualities of historic authen- 
ticity. 

I must now insert another letter, which a very worthy preacher 
in a town of some note addressed to me : — 

" Being aware, from something you have lately published, 
that you have the intention of writing a treatise upon the soul's 
faculty of presentiment, I take the liberty of sending a contri- 
bution to it, which is the more to be relied on, because I am 
almost proud of acting the skeptic on this subject. 

" When I was a boy of fifteen or sixteen years of age, being 
once engaged in conversation on indifferent subjects, I was on 
a sudden beside myself, during which my imagination pictured 
to me a thief under the escort of soldiers and peasants, whose 
very dress I marked in as lively a manner as if the circumstance 
had really occurred, so that 1 interrupted the conversation, and 
said, ' They are bringing a thief!' I was laughed at : but about 
ten minutes afterward, there really came a prisoner, exactly in 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 79 

the manner in which I had seen him in spirit. It was a sudden 
trance, in which I saw the vision. 

"Besides several presentiments, of no importance, which my 
wife has had in her dreams, I will only adduce one, which is 
highly remarkable, and which Morilz has therefore inserted in 
his ' Magazine of Experimental Psychology.' 

"Six weeks before the event took place, my wife dreamed 
that she was travelling with some one. On the road, this per- 
son fell ill : she nevertheless continued her journey. The indi- 
vidual became worse, and she requested an old woman, with a 
very forbidding physiognomy, to give her something to eat, but 
received nothing but bread and water. The person shortly 
afterward was confined to bed, and was very weak ; a clergy- 
man appeared, at whose stupidity those present were disgusted ; 
she saw her lying dead, saw the mourners enter the room, heard 
the hymn suns in the street — 'I die in Jesus,' <Scc. ; saw the 
mutes in attendance (which is here by no means customary) : 
and. six weeks after this, every circumstance was most minutely 
fulfilled ! She related all this to me the next morning after 
having: had the dream : it is therefore no subsequent invention, 
nor enriched with additions."* The remainder of the letter 
does not belong here. 

In all these presentiments, there is no apparent object in 
view. Certainly, in the winning in the lottery, Providence 
had of course a hand, because both enter deeply into the man's 
sphere of action, and have much influence upon his fate, and 
upon that of those with whom he is connected. But in Dr. 
Knape's presentiments, something singular is observable : they 
were of no use to him, and one sees clearly that Providence 
overruled the consequence of his foreknowledge. 

In the first instance, Knape had already staked upon the num- 
bers 22 and 60, when he dreamed and foresaw that these num- 
bers would come out first. To all appearance, therefore, this 
presentiment was entirely devoid o{ aim. 

But the second dream manifestly shows the interference ^>t 
Providence. Knape saw all the five numbers very clearly ; the 

N e 8. 



80 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

presentiment was complete : but as it did not accord with the 
Divine will, concerning him, that he should at once come into 
the possession of so large a sum of money, Providence occa- 
sioned a noise on his awaking, or made use of it to draw his 
attention away from the figures, and he no longer precisely 
knew what they were. 

His third dream, with reference to this point, is extremely 
remarkable. Knape, on awaking, had a very distinct recollec- 
tion of No. 25. He therefore staked upon it three days before 
the drawing, and consequently early enough, and yet it was 
struck out by the lottery-agent, and not received — for what 
reason, Knape does not mention. Be that as it may, it was not 
the will of Providence that he should win upon this number, 
and the presentiment was unavailing. 

Nor does there seem to be any object in view, in the presen- 
timent which the clergyman had in his youth : probably it was 
to make an efficient impression upon his mind, that might pre- 
pare it for salutary reflection. 

The remarkable dream of the clergyman's wife contains a 
very complete presentiment, but seems likewise to be destitute 
of any particular object. We can not, however, know whether 
in this, and in all other similar cases of presentiment, they have 
not an effect upon the inward man, and the train of his ideas, 
though not perceived by us — and therefore some definite end. 
This appears to me, at least, more than probable. 

But what say the materialist, the rationalist, and the enlight- 
ened Christian to this? The materialist must lay his hand up- 
on his mouth at the relation of all passages of this nature ; for 
according to this system, no man can know or decipher more 
of the future than what he can actually infer from existing 
causes, which are obvious to the senses, and their necessary or 
probable effects. But in the examples adduced above, neither 
of these have anything to do. These presentiments even stand 
in direct contradiction to such a philosophy; according to its 
principles, they are not possible, and yet they are real and true ; 
hence it follows with apodictical certainty, that those principles 
are entirely false. In order to explain myself clearly and sat- 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 81 

isfactorily upon this very important subject, I will here attempt 
to draw a complete and conclusive deduction with reference to 
this obscure subject ; my readers will therefore pardon me, if I 
recapitulate several things which I have already said. 

Man, by means of his body, is organized for the existing vis- 
ible world ; but his human soul or its spirit, with its immortal 
luminous body, is organized for the invisible world. 

The human soul, so long as this mortal life continues, is ex- 
iled into this mechanical body. It attains all its knowledge in 
time and space, through the medium of its sensible organs ; and 
as it has not rationally in itself, or in its own nature, any other 
sources of knowledge, it is impossible for it to judge and con- 
clude otherwise than according to those laws which it gives to 
the senses, by means of its corporeal organization. 

He that will not believe in the God of the Christians, nor in 
the immortality of the soul, in the face of his own inward con- 
viction, may make himself easy in his unbelief; he needs noth- 
ing more. But the soul that hungers after perfection, and after 
a continual increase of blessedness, needs more than this tran- 
sitory, sensible world affords. But this additional something it 
is unable to find in the whole sphere of its knowledge. People 
may say what they please of the physical proof of the existence 
of God, yet the result is never the true God, but only a su- 
premely perfect, almighty, omnipresent, all-good, and all-wise 
man, whose whole creation, together with the whole human 
race, is but a machine, which governs itself by its own concrea- 
ted powers. 

The soul does not know itself, nor is it possible for it to know 
itself, from its own sensible sources of knowledge. It wishes 
eternal duration, united with ever increasing perfection and 
blessedness. The motive to this lies in its own nature, it is cre- 
ated with it ; left to itself, it is ignorant of the true means of ob- 
taining it ; it therefore naturally seeks them in the world in 
which it exists, that is, in the visible world, but there it finds 
them not. It hastens from one attainment and enjoyment to an- 
other, but is never satisfied ; till at length it is withdrawn by 



82 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

death, from the visible world, and those whom it has left behind 
know not what is become of it. 

Here and there an individual may be found, but scarcely one 
in a million, who reflects on the matter further. He discovers a 
track, pursues it and makes progress. He sees clearly that the 
world in which he lives, and that he himself also, must have 
had an origin ; the idea of a deity occurs to him ; he draws in- 
ferences from his works ; and the result is a most perfect man, 
who then becomes his god; and he feels also- that he must ven- 
erate him, and become like him. A law then unfolds itself in 
his mind, whose formula is, " That which thou wilt not that 
others should do to thee, do not to them ; and what thou wish- 
est others to do to thee, do thou also to them." On further re- 
flection, he at length arrives where reason, in the present age, 
is arrived by philosophical illumination ; that is, at deism, then 
at fatalism, afterward at naturalism, and finally at atheism. En- 
lightened reason left to itself, and not under the guidance of 
revealed religion, must necessarily at length arrive at this. 

Meanwhile, the innate impulse to perfection and happiness 
urges the poor imprisoned soul onward from one sensible attain- 
ment, and from one sensual enjoyment to another, yet still it is 
never satisfied ; it feels that it is not in its true element, yet 
knows no other : and it now makes choice of one of the two 
roads that stand open to it; it enjoys either as much as it can 
enjoy, or it struggles with fate, bears every adverse occurring 
circumstance courageously, and then passes over at death, to 
the great and unknown future. 

There are many that perceive and are well aware, that noth- 
ing more irrational or aimless can be conceived than the annihi- 
lation of the soul at death. That a being, whose innate im- 
pulse is infinite duration, perfection, and enjoyment of the su- 
preme good, should in a few years, in which it has attained 
none of its objects, cease to be ; what absurdity ! An only 
half-sober reason easily acknowledges this, but as generally 
nothing more is seen or heard of the soul after death, except 
when it is here and there said that a dead man has shown him- 
self, and is returned again ; the mere rational man, or the ma- 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 63 

terialist, knows not a word of the farther fate of his soul after 
death ; he dreams and supposes, but always according to his 
mechanical principles, which he has abstracted from the visible 
world, and which are therefore totally false, with respect to 
their application to another world, in which spirits with their 
free will are at home. 

This is the natural path of human reason, which she pursues 
when left to herself, and when thinking consistently. Now we 
would suppose that mankind must have necessarily fallen upon 
this path in the first century of their cultivation, because it is so 
very natural and agreeable to reason ; quite the contrary ; if 
we ask the history of all nations, it gives us quite a different 
answer. Men were then acquainted with the invisible world ; 
they believed in beings superior to themselves, who in grada- 
tion were more and more glorious, and connected at last with 
God, or with divinities, as the Supreme Being, the origin and 
creator of all things. This view of the subject is the spirit and 
basis of all the mythologies or divinity-systems of every nation 
that was in any manner cultivated. Each particular nation 
then clothed this fundamental principle after its own character 
and favorite pursuits ; in every nation there were from time to 
time, persons of great genius, who beautified the picture by 
their glowing imagination ; and then arose likewise, great ben- 
efactors to mankind and mighty heroes, who were honored after 
death as gods. Belief in God and immortality prevailed uni- 
versally. 

I now ask every reader who loves the truth, how was it that 
mankind arrived so early at this belief in God, in an invisible 
world, and in immortality 1 Certainly not by the path of rea- 
son ; for that leads directly away from all this ; perhaps by 
means of imagination, that ever-ready parent of new nonenti- 
ties. This might easily be supposed ; but on closer examina- 
tion, this supposition vanishes and sinks into nothing : for — 

1. Ideas which are real and true, lay at the foundation of ev- 
ery image of the imagination ; for how can it figuro to itself, 
or create anything for which it has no materials 1 After pre- 
viously knowing something of a God, and a world of spirits : 



84 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

after knowing this, it decked out these fundamental principles 
with images from the invisible world : and — 

2. All nations that are in any degree cultivated, possess the 
fundamental principle of God, of a world of spirits, and of the 
immortality of the soul. All agree in this pure and abstract 
idea. But whence have they derived it % Naturally, by a rev- 
elation of God, of the world of spirits, and of apparitions of 
deceased individuals, which they had either learned from their 
forefathers, or experienced themselves. The idea is unnatural 
and impossible, that all men should receive an impression of a 
thing, that is not at all obvious to the senses. 

We find the origin of this fundamental principle of God, of 
the world of spirits, and of the immortality of the soul, in the 
earliest ages, in the East — in the cradle of humanity. Moses, 
the most ancient historiographer of mankind, relates to us the 
origin of the visible world and its inhabitants ; the first revela- 
tions of God, of the world of spirits, and of immortality ; the 
first history of the earth and its inhabitants : and all so entirely 
without any appearance of fabrication — in a manner so simple, 
sublime, and becoming the Deity — that every uncorrupted heart 
must exclaim, " This man relates to us truths that are eternal 
and divine !" 

Moses was brought up in Egypt. The Egyptians were, at 
that period, the most cultivated nation upon earth. The Par- 
sees, who became so famous, were later ; for their founder, 
Zerduschd or Zoroaster, both the first and second, were schol- 
ars of the Egyptian priesthood. All other nations, even the 
Greeks, flourished much later. With all their cultivation, the 
Egyptians possessed a very corrupt idea of God, of the spirit- 
ual world, and of immortality — or, in one word, of divinity 
and religion ; for they made oxen and other animals symbols 
of the Deity, and these were then divinely honored by the 
common people. Their morals were equally as corrupt : in 
the time of Moses they were already deeply sunk. He had not 
therefore learned his theology from the Egyptians, although he 
was acquainted with their mental culture ; but he had learned 
it of his forefathers, of the patriarchal family, and also by his 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 85 

own experience — having himself frequent intercourse with 
God. 

The theological fundamental ideas of God, of the spiritual 
world, and of immortality, proceeded therefore from the first 
of men; were handed down through the patriarchal family to 
Moses, by him to the people of Israel, and by them, through 
manifold reflected rays of light, in a partial manner also to the 
Greeks, Romans, and other nations, which is abundantly evi- 
dent from their mythologies ; until at length Jesus Christ, the 
God-man, completed the revelation of God to man, by exhibit- 
ing this theological idea in its most pure and perfect state, and 
by showing the infallible way which man must pursue in order 
to satisfy his central impulse after infinite perfection and ever- 
increasing blessedness. 

The fundamental points of this theology, in its present and 
most perfect form, such as Christ and his apostles, on establish- 
ing Christianity, left behind them to all his true worshippers 
and confessors — as divine and eternal truth, and as the ground 
of their faith — consists, as far as it relates to my present pur- 
pose, in the following ideas : — 

God the Father, the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, 
sent his only-begotten Son, the Logos, the organ by which he 
reveals himself to all created beings, upon earth to become 
man, and to redeem the human race, which had fallen from the 
state in which it was created. This redemption he accomplished 
by a painful course of life and suffering. He then rose tri- 
umphant over death and hell, and over all fallen spirits or angels, 
to the government of all worlds — to the right hand of his heav- 
enly Father. He received all power in heaven and on earth, 
and is, and shall continue to be, sole regent of the world, until 
all his foes, and the enemies of man, and finally death itself, be 
overcome. The Holy Spirit, whom he has sent us, operates 
to the moral perfecting or sanctification of man, when the latter 
does not resist him, but asks for him with faith and fervor ; but 
the government of mankind is exercised, by the spiritual world, 
through the medium of good angels and spirits, who, without 
trenching upon the freedom of man's will, and entirely without 

8 



86 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

his knowledge, seek by every means to influence his free will 
according to the Lord's will. Those who believe in the Lord 
and his word, and regulate their lives according to it, then be- 
come likewise co-operating instruments in the government of 
the world, the end of which is, gradually to overcome the pow- 
erful intermingling influence of evil spirits and wicked men, to 
deliver the earth or the whole human race from their bondage, 
and finally to expel entirely everything that is evil from the 
kingdom of nature. 

The material or visible world is governed according to our 
human conceptions, which are confined within the boundaries 
of time and space, by its own innate powers ; but the rational 
or spiritual world to which, as it regards the soul, men also 
belong, is governed by laws. In the former, the operation of 
power is of necessity ; but in the latter, obedience to the law 
depends upon the free will — to which, however, the Divine 
government sets bounds when it does not accord with its pur- 
poses. 

Although good and evil spirits possess a powerful influence 
in the government of the world, yet it is strictly forbidden, in 
the Divine laws of the Old and New Testaments, to seek any ac- 
quaintance with them, or to place ourselves in connection with 
and relation to them ; and it is just as little permitted for citi- 
zens of the world of spirits visibly to manifest themselves to 
those who are still in the present state of existence, without the 
express command or permission of the Lord. 

He, therefore, that seeks intercourse with the invisible world, 
sins deeply, and will soon repent of it; while he that becomes 
acquainted with it, without his own seeking and by Divine 
guidance, ought to beg and pray for wisdom, courage, and 
strength, for he has need of all these ; and let him that is intro- 
duced into such a connection by means of illness, or the aber- 
ration of his physical nature, seek by proper means to regain 
his health, and detach himself from intercourse with spirits. 

Such, my dear leaders, is the pure, true, and evangelical doc- 
trine of God and of the world of spirits ; and such is the funda- 
mental principle of my system of theocratic liberty, or of my 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 87 

theocratic philosophy. In all that belongs to the present life 
and to the visible world, mechanic philosophy must be our rule 
and criterion of thinking and deciding. In respect to this, Rea- 
son must judge according to logical laws, and be our sole guide. 
But in all matters relative to the spiritual world, she must judge 
according to the laws of liberty and Divine revelation ; because 
man, in the present life, is only organized for the visible world, 
and he has therefore no data for his principles of reasoning in 
the spiritual world, until he be divested of this rude and me- 
chanical body. 

Fear not, my dear friends, that I am again opening the door 
to superstition ; for I pointedly maintain that we ought to pay 
no attention to the world-<of spirits and its operations. We are 
referred to the word of God, to the Lord, and to his Spirit, and 
have nothing to do with any other spirits. 

The infidelity and that falling away which so generally pre- 
vail, have removed good angels and spirits from us, and have 
attracted toward us evil spirits, who, however, take good care 
not to make themselves cognizable. Under the guise of natu- 
ral effects, they carry on their baleful purposes, and thus accel- 
erate the ripening for judgment. This is my theory of the sci- 
ence of spirits ; in accordance with the principles of which, I 
am now able to answer the question, " What must be believed 
or disbelieved of presentiments, visions, and apparitions V 

When any one, who has no predisposition to foresight, that 
is, no developed faculty of presentiment, is warned of danger 
by an unknown something, it occurs by command of the Divine 
government, through the medium of an angel, who makes use 
of a direct impression upon the mind, according as he can 
attain his end in the best and easiest manner. To this class 
belong the first instances of true presentiments which I have 
already related. If it be asked, " Why are not all men thus 
warned of danger?" I answer, when the individual himself can 
foresee and suppose danger, no presentiment is necessary ; and 
equally so, when a misfortune is applicable to the aim of Divine 
government. A presentiment is, then, alone necessary when the 
approaching misfortune can not otherwise be avoided, and yet 



88 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

is not suited to the end in view, and must therefore be by all 
means prevented. 

The dream of Mr. Von Brenkenhof was also the production 
of a warning angel, because he could not be induced, prepared, 
and strengthened, for the active assistance of so many unfortu- 
nate beings, in any other manner ; and it was also an angel that 
early made known to the princess Nagotsky the circumstances 
which should accompany her decease, to give her a hint what 
she had then to do. But the world to come must eventually 
unfold why these things take place by means of an angel, and 
in such a manner. 

With respect to the presentiments of Dr. Knape, the case is 
very different : these had their origin in himself. I will explain 
myself more minutely upon this point. 

It is clear that angels were not employed in the matter, be- 
cause the presentiments were useless, Providence rendering the 
object of these unavailing. The case is as follows : — 

It is evident, from the theory I have laid down, that the hu- 
man soul approaches the world of spirits in the degree that it 
divests itself of the organs by which it acts upon the body, and 
the latter upon it. This may take place in various ways, and 
in a variety of degrees, from the smallest presentiment to com- 
plete detachment in death. 

When the individual has a natural tendency to any species or 
to a certain degree of that detachment of the soul from the body, 
I call this kind or this degree the faculty of presentiment, which, 
when it is active or operates, I then denominate the developed 
faculty of presentiment. 

This kind of faculty of presentiment of the soul rests on a 
predominant inclination to any particular thing. For instance, 
he that takes pleasure in playing in the lottery, or that is in- 
spired with a curiosity to know future things, or such as are 
doing at a distance, and possesses at the same time that dispo- 
sition, such a one develops his faculty of presentiment only in 
reference to this object. He is susceptible of that to which his 
soul has a tendency, and this susceptibility is in proportion to 
such disposition, as also the degree of its obscurity or clearness. 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 89 

However comprehensible and rational all this may be, yet the 
chief difficulty still remains ; and that is, how is it possible for a 
person in the visible world, or how can finite spirits — all of 
whom, as limited beings, develop their ideas in succession, and 
consequently in time and space — foreknow future things? 

I answer, that, as the free actions of men in the visible world 
are guided by the world of spirits, without infringing, however, 
upon their liberty, consequently the arrangements with respect 
to all the actions of individuals, single nations, and the whole 
human race, from the meanest to the most important, are there 
made and brought into exercise. An individual, therefore, who 
possesses a developed faculty of presentiment, may be suscep- 
tible of the result of those arrangements, it being in some way 
made obvious to his senses, and by this means presented to him 
in a perceptible form. 

It is utterly impossible that there can be any blind chance — 
any mere casualty. The most important events generally spring 
from the most minute and trifling occurrences. Not a hair, not 
a sparrow falls to the ground, without the will of God. The 
world of spirits is busy at the gaming-table, and at the most for- 
bidden actions, and the most horrible vices. Evil spirits oper- 
ate to perdition, inflame the passions, and allure to vice ; and 
the good seek, under the direction of the Divine government, 
to promote virtue, to encourage us in conflicting against the 
passions, and to deter us from vice. Thus it is comprehensible 
how a developed faculty of presentiment may foresee something 
that is shortly to take place, but not what is remotely future, 
because it is unconsciously susceptible of the arrangements for 
the former, but not for the latter — from which obscure sensa- 
tion the inward senses form a perceptible and tangible result, 
of which the soul is clearly sensible. 

Here the great distinction also manifests itself between these 
natural presentiments and Divine predictions, of which I will 
subsequently treat at large, in its proper place. 

Hitherto we have only spoken of such individuals who have 
either no developed faculty of presentiment, and whose ]>iv<- 
ages therefore proceed from angels, or of such who only Bcl- 

8* 



90 PNEUMATOLOGY 

dom and in particular instances develop their faculty of presen- 
timent, and forebode something, which has often neither mean- 
ing nor worth. But we now come to a description of people 
whose faculty of presentiment is so developed, that they fre- 
quently and repeatedly foretell that which is future. These, 
again, may be divided into various classes. 

There are individuals who have long devoted themselves to 
a life of unfeigned piety, and who, by walking before God, and 
by inward intercourse with him for many years, develop at 
length their faculty of presentiment — that is, when they have, 
besides this, a natural tendency to it. These pious souls look 
with an enlightened eye into the spiritual world and into futu- 
rity ; but their regards have always reference to those objects 
which are their favorite ones. For instance, when such char- 
acters occupy themselves much with the book of Revelations, 
they receive light upon the subject; or if they reflect much and 
inteutly upon the state of man after death, their enlightened eye 
then fixes itself upon the subject, &c. But as the most devout 
and holy souls, with all their exalted and purified inward pow- 
ers, are still in the body, and though their sensible imagination 
be irradiated by this Divine light, yet they can not always dis- 
tinguish the knowledge they derive from the spiritual world, 
which is therefore correct, from that which their lively imagi- 
nation produces. Consequently, hence proceed those errors 
and mistakes which sometimes creep into their discourses or 
writings. When such persons prophesy, there is much that is 
afterward fulfilled, and much that is not, for the reason I have 
just adduced above. 

Now, from these remarks, which are certainly correct, pro- 
ceed two important fundamental duties : — 

1. That such devout and holy individuals ought by no means 
to presume upon this spiritual gift, nor to regard it as a Divine 
revelation. If they have a view of the future, or a conscious- 
ness of that which is taking place at a distance, or if they derive 
knowledge from the world of spirits, their first thought ought 
certainly to be : H According to the Divine order of things, I 
ought to know nothing of this; but as it has been revealed to 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 91 

me without my seeking it, and by Divine permission, the ques- 
tion now is, whether it be intended solely for myself, or for 
some far-advanced souls, or even for the public in general." 
Here prayer, watching, and self-denial, are requisite ; for the 
tempter now shows himself as an angel of light : he gently and 
imperceptibly insinuates into the man's mind the idea that he 
must certainly have made great progression in holiness, and be 
particularly acceptable to God, who thus deigns to favor him 
with his revelations, and endue him with the prophetic gift ! 
Much experience is requisite here, in order to take this hissing 
of the serpent for what it really is, and to scare the venomous 
reptile away, by an inward approach to the crucified Redeemer. 
Nay, the tempter is very often complimented, to the following 
effect : " Excuse me, I am much too far behind, much too un- 
worthy of so noble a gift," &c. ; while, in the meantime, the 
gilded poison has been swallowed down. A feigned humility 
has taken post in the soul, and very dark and painful experi- 
ences are then required in order to lead such an individual back 
again to true self-denial and mortification. 

My readers will easily perceive of what infinite importance 
this subject is, of which I am now treating; for if the enlight- 
ened soul be not acquainted with the true nature of the faculty 
of presentiment, nor knows that it may be developed in charac- 
ters the most corrupted and immoral, the individual may easily 
mistake it for a divine revelation, and by presuming upon it, 
gradually fall away and finally perish. 

2. The duty is equally of primary importance to every Chris- 
tian. Whenever he observes anything of an extraordinary na- 
ture, such as men, women, or children, either falling into trances 
or being in any manner under mental excitation, and entering 
into a state of supernatural elevation, he must act with great 
circumspection, and not look upon it as anything divine. In 
the beginning, such persons often speak sublime things that are 
founded in the world of God ; they then gain followers, and 
probably many are converted by them ; but in the sequel, the 
adversary of all that is good, generally mixes himself in the 
matter, particularly when such somnambulists are simple peo- 



92 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

pie who are destitute of the requisite religious knowledge, and 
then erroneous, pernicious, and often monstrous sects arise. 
Only call to mind the horrid events which happened at the com- 
mencement of I he present century, in the canton of Berne, in 
Switzerland, when through the fanaticism of a young female, 
which originated in trances, her old and venerable grandfather 
was strangled by means of her followers, in order that his soul 
might he saved, as last Easter was to be the day of judgment! 

I exhort all that read this or hear it read, in the name of the 
most sacred majesty of our most blessed king, Jesus Christ, to 
be extremely suspicious of all such extraordinary appearances, 
presentiments, trances, and predictions ; to examine well and 
minutely everything ; not to look upon those books which even 
pious souls in such a state have written, unconditionally as a 
Divine revelation ; and not to believe their predictions, but to 
be persuaded, that though some things may be fulfilled, others 
will not, and even the whole may not. 

In the present remarkable period, the prince of darkness 
has recourse to every possible means of deception, to occasion 
the falling away of the true worshippers of Christ; he assumes 
the most deceitful forms of light, that he may unsettle pious 
souls ; hence I find it so necessary to be continually warning 
my fellow-countrymen against prying into the revelations of the 
Bible, in order to learn what is shortly to take place. Of this 
we know as much as is necessary for us, and it is sufficient if 
we are always attentive to observe how they are fulfilled by de- 
grees. It generally happens, that some false spirit joins itself 
to such inquisitive people, which they confidently believe to be 
the Spirit of God ; they rejoice at this distinguished favor, and 
then regard all their reveries as inspiration and of Divine sug- 
gestion. The deceiver leads them imperceptibly away from the 
truth : and when at length these dreams are not accomplished, 
their faith suffers shipwreck, and this is just what the tempter 
seeks. The being unwilling to know anything but Jesus Christ 
and him crucified, is at present an imperious duty. He will 
then grant us that knowledge which is needful for us on every 
occasion. 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 93 

A dear and valued friend communicated to me some months 
ago, a beautiful and instructive instance how the true Christian 
ought to employ the gift, or rather the quality of a developed 
faculty of presentiment. I pledge myself for the truth of it, 
and give it in the same words in which I received it : — 

" The wife of a common mechanic in S , possessed the 

gift of prescience in a high degree. She had almost constantly 
day and night, visions from the world of spirits ; but she kept 
them very secret, and disclosed them only to very confidential 
persons. She was not only very devout, and a real practical 
Christian, who exercised herself daily in patience, self-denial, 
and charity, but she also possessed Christian sagacity and un- 
feigned humility. She not only did not arrogate to herself any- 
thing on account of her visions, but warned people against such 
things, assuring them that persevering watchfulness and constant 
prayer were requisite, in order to avoid falling into errors ; that 
among the inhabitants of the world of spirits, there were good 
and evil, and partially good and partially evil beings ; that there 
were many spirits which frequently took delight in deceiving 
men ; that she had often experienced this but was soon aware 
of it, having received of God the gift of trying the spirits ; that 
she saw all her deceased acquaintances immediately after their 
death, in the form in which they appeared in the other world. 
A bishop who was regarded as pious, she had seen in gray, in 
the habits of the poor ; that proud people appeared tall, but 
became smaller as they lost their pride, &c. 

" This woman once met with an intimate friend of hers in the 
street ; the latter was very pious and devout, but regarded all 
visions as empty fancies, and did not believe in the existence of 
a world of spirits. As soon as she perceived her, she said to 
this widow, ' Did you not see your deceased husband last night 
in such and such a form V The widow was astonished, for 
such had really been the case. « I must tell you,' answered she, 
1 that if I did not know you so well, and if I were not so much 
attached to you, I should believe you had to do with things that 
are improper.' 

" She was often requested by deceased individuals, even by 



94 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

those whom she did not know, to pray for them. She did so 
fervently, and not unfrequently saw those persons afterward ap- 
pear with a friendly countenance, as if to thank her. 

" It very often happened that she saw persons, who visited 
her, enter her door some time before, and knew immediately 
in what temper they would come to her, whether good-humored 
or cross. 

" She once wished to speak to a female friend of hers, who 
resided in the same town, but at a considerable distance from 
her. Her urgent avocations did not permit her to go out ; she 
therefore made use of her fixed will to call her to her. Her 
friend sat quietly at home without thinking of going out ; sud- 
denly it occurred to her that she ought to go to Mrs. W . 

She banished the thought and said, ' I have no occasion to go 
to her, and besides it is dreadful bad weather, and both rainy 
and windy.' But the thought again occurred to her that she 
ought to visit her friend. ' I will not,' answered she. ' I can 
not go out at present.' But the impression upon her mind be- 
came stronger, and left her no rest. Full of vexation, she now 
threw a cloak over her and went. On opening Mr. W — — 's 
door, the latter smiled and said, ' I knew very well that you 
would be constrained to come. Sit down there beside me ; I 
have something that I must of necessity say to you, and it was 
impossible for me to go out ; I therefore thought I would call 
you hither by my will.' 

" She frequently foresaw the illnesses of her acquaintances, 
but could not always distinguish whether it was a disease that 
might prove mortal, or one that would really terminate in death. 
Both showed themselves to her in the same manner. 

" The following prediction, which can be verified on oath, is 
remarkable : — 

" In the beginning of the revolution, a person in trade trav- 
elled to Leipsic, on business to the fair. During his stay there 
he was publicly denounced as a spy, in ' The Gazette of the 
Right Bank of the Rhine,' and his name given. This caused 
his family great alarm. It was to be feared he would be ar- 
rested on his return, and orders were really issued to that ef- 



P R E S E N T 1 M E N f S, E N C H A N T M E N T S, E T C. 95 

feet. His wife was an intimate friend of Mrs. W 's. She 

therefore ran to her, and gave a loose before her to all the anx- 
iety she felt. After some minutes, Mrs. W said to her, 

1 Compose yourself, nothing will happen to your husband, he 
will return in safety. You may perfectly rely upon what I say 
to you ; you know that I am incapable of telling you an untruth; 
you may fully depend upon it he will come safely back.' Her 
friend believed what she said, and went away from her quite 

consoled. She had already gone a few paces, when Mrs. W , 

who still stood at the house-door, called her back, and said to 
her, ' Understand me properly, your husband will return in 
safety, he has, however, a hurt on one foot, but it is of little 
consequence.' 

" This prediction was punctually fulfilled. The merchant 
travelled with his clerk, through the provinces in which he was 
denounced ; no one recognised him, and he arrived happily in 

S ; but he had a hurt on one foot. In Smalcald he had 

been thrown out of the carriage, by the horses running away. 
He did not break his leg, but the calf separated itself from the 
bone, so that on his return he was confined to his bed some 
weeks. He was, however, subsequently perfectly healed. 

" This woman died in March, 1790. Toward the end of her 
life she was asked what would be the result of the French Rev- 
olution. She replied that the present order of things would not 
continue, but the former system would likewise not return. 
The result would be very different from what people imagined ; 
whole rivers of blood would be shed, and dreadful vengeance 
taken. ' I see,' added she, ■ Admiral Coligny extremely busy 
in this revolution ; I always see him in a bloody shirt.' 

11 She warned her friends against being concerned in anything 
wrong. She said to a person who was much displeased that 
her husband took part in the revolution, and was entangled in 
it, ' Be comforted, your husband will pass safely through the 
revolution, although with considerable loss. God will forcibly 
detach him from the connections and employment in which he 
is engaged. He will become more tranquil than he has ever been. 
What I tell you is the truth. You may fully rely upon it.' 



96 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

" Mrs. W has been dead now more than sixteen years. 

Everything has been punctually fulfilled. She died in the sixty- 
third year of her age. 

" When Cagliostro was in S , she visited him several 

times. He immediately perceived that she saw into the invisi- 
ble world, and practised all kinds of legerdemain in her pres- 
ence, probably to hinder her from perceiving what he really 
was. She admired the greatness of his art, but regarded him 
as a necromancer,* of whom there are a greater number in the 
world, and even among Christians, than is supposed. We read, 
in the writings of Antoinette Bourignon, that this enlightened 
person said the same thing of her times. The devil has many 
real worshippers, and they will secretly increase, til] at length 
they will openly show themselves under the reign of ' the beast/ 
and deceive the whole world. Lust and riches are the chief 
means of deception. But they fulfil the desires of their adhe- 
rents more by large promises than by the thing itself. Lies and 
deceit rule in the kingdom of dankness : truth and real enjoy- 
ment are alone to be found in the kingdom of light." 

Thus far my friend's letter. I pledge myself once more for 
the truth of the above narrative. I know the sincerity of every 
individual that has a part in it : others also have related it ver- 
bally to me. In short, it is certainly and really true. 

Mrs. W was anything but an enthusiast ; she was a pious 

and benevolent Christian. Her placing no value upon her in- 
tercourse with the spiritual world, nor upon her gift of pre- 
science, and her making no other use of it than to serve those 
that needed counsel and consolation, characterize her fully. 
Had she been an enthusiast, she would have acted quite other- 
wise : she then would, with holy self-complacency, have declared 
herself a poor, unworthy prophetess, and have occasioned much 
mischief. 

Her opinion of her intercourse with spirits, her counsel and 
her warning in such a case, are so truly and genuinely Chris- 
tian, that nothing can exceed it : for it can not be too frequently 
said and repeated, that intercourse with the world of spirits, 

* Or rather, one that has dealings with evil spirits. 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 97 

and all discoveries and presages which result from it, are most 
dangerous things. He that falls into these circumstances with- 
out his own seeking, ought to endeavor, if possible, to withdraw 
himself from them ; and if he can not do that, he must act as 
Mrs. W advised, incessantly watch and pray. 

A developed faculty of presentiment is not in accordance with 
Divine, spiritual, or physical laws ; but is, in some measure, a 
disease, which we should endeavor to heal : he that seeks, in 
any other manner, to develop it, commits the sin of sorcery. 

What Mrs. W says of good and evil, and partially good 

and partially evil spirits, is true and remarkable ; and it accords 
exactly with the Holy Scriptures and with experience. Her 
praying for the dead also deserves attention : it is again a new 
proof that the individual, at death, does not enter straightway 
into heaven or hell, but is prepared for one or the other of 
these abodes — a longer or a shorter time, according to his state 
— during which he continues in hades. Perfect saints and per- 
fect reprobates alone pass, without stopping, to the place of 
their destination. 

That her gift of prescience was by no means anything divine 
or prophetical, is clear from this, that she foresaw the most 
indifferent and insignificant events : as, for instance, when she 
received ordinary visits. 

Extremely remarkable and important is the magic operation 
of her will, by which she compelled her friend to come to her. 
The materialist laughs at such like things, and regards them as 
the most senseless enthusiasm and the most stupid superstition ; 
and yet the thing is true in itself, and founded on the nature of 
the world of spirits. God has deeply concealed this mystery 
of magic, because it might lead to the most dreadful abuses, in 
which case it becomes real sorcery. Let him that discovers it 
— for it may be obtained by certain arts — flee from it as from 
the avenging angel of death, for horrible things may result from 
it ! This mystery reveals itself when the development of the 
faculty of presentiment has attained to a great height. 

This circumstance gives us a hint how spirit can act upon 
spirit. But no more of this : the true sage will understand me. 

9 



98 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

• 
He is aware of the difference between real divine magic and the 
black art or infernal magic. 

What Mrs. W says of the French Revolution, and par- 
ticularly of Admiral Coligny, is very remarkable. If she was 
not deceived in the matter — if she really saw that great and 
noble man actively employed in a crimson robe, not shirt — it 
gives us an important key to the government of the world, for 
hence it follows that the Lord makes use of the pious dead as 
instruments for the execution of important ends. 

Admiral Coligny was a powerful protector of the protestants 
(Huguenots) in France, toward the close of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, and one of the first of those who were murdered at the 
bloody nuptials on St. Bartholomew's eve, 1580, in his own 
apartment. Every one, whose eyes are in any manner opened, 
must perceive that the heinous and bloody persecutions of our 
brethren in the faith, in France, have been fearfully avenged 
in the Revolution ; nor would it be anything very unnatural were 
Admiral Coligny employed on this occasion, although not to 
avenge, but to appease the retributive justice of the Judge of 
the whole earth. 

The most remarkable instance of the development of the fac- 
ulty of presentiment is incontestably the prediction of M. Ca- 
zotte, at a dinner in Paris. A favorite German periodical work 
has taken the liberty to ascribe the whole narrative to the in- 
vention of some ingenious idler ; but this assertion is destitute 
of proof. I can prove, on the contrary, that it is literally and 
minutely true. I have spoken upon the subject with a person 
of rank, who sincerely loves the truth, and who was well ac- 
quainted with Cazotte : and this individual assured me that 
Cazotte was a man of great piety, and endowed with a high 
degree of knowledge ; that he frequently predicted the most 
remarkable things, which were always fulfilled; and that he 
testified, at the same time, that they were communicated to him 
by means of intercourse with spirits. 

The narrative before us was found among the papers of the 
late M. La Harpe, in his own handwriting. This La Harpe 
was a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, in Paris, that 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 99 

storehouse of i : [km, and of Yoltarian absurdity ! La 

H?.rpe himself was a freethinker, who believed nothing:, but 
who. before his end. was thoroughly converted, and died in the 
faith and hope of the gospel. 

I v.iil first relate the narrative in La Harpe's own words, and 
then add a few remarks respecting its authenticity. He writes 
as follows : — 

•• I: seer.:s to me as if it were but yesterday, although it hap- 
pened at the beginning; of the year 17 5S. "We were dining with 
one of our colleagues of the academy, a man of genius and re- 
rability. The company, which was numerous, was selected 
from all ranks — courtiers, judges, learned men. academicians, 
and had done justice to the ample, and. as usual, well-fur- 
nished repast. At the dessert, Malvasier and Constantia height- 
ened the festivity, and augmented, in good society, that kind 
: eedom which does not always keep itself within defined 

•• T::e world was at that time arrived at such a pitch, that it 
- permitted to say anything; with the intention of exciting 
merriment. Chamfort had read to us some of his blasphemous 
and lascivious tales, and noble ladies had listened to them even 
without having recourse to their fans. After this, followed a 
whole he - is on religion. One person quoted a tirade 

from Pucelle : another reminded the company of that philo- 
sophical - Diderot's in which he says. ' Strangle the last 
king with the entrails of the last priest !' — and all clapped ap- 
plause. Another stood up. elevating a bumper, and exclaimed, 
1 Yes, gentlemen, I am just as certain that there is no God, as I 
am certain that Homer is a fool ;' and. in reality, he was as cer- 
tain of one as the other, for the company had just spoken of 
Homer and of God, and there were among the guests those who 
had spoken well of both the one and the other. 

" The conversation now became more serious. The revolu- 
tion that Voltaire had effected was spoken o£ with admiration ; 
and it was agreed that it was this which formed the principal 
basis of his fame. He had given the tone to his age ; he had 
written in such a manner, that he was read in both the ante- 



100 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

chamber and the drawing-room. One of the company related 
to us, with a loud laugh, that his hairdresser, while powdering 
him, said, * Look, sir, although I am only a poor journeyman, 
yet I have no more religion than another !' It was concluded 
that the revolution would be completed without delay, and that 
superstition and fanaticism must make way for philosophy. The 
probable period was calculated, and which of the company would 
have the happiness of living during the reign of Reason. The 
more aged lamented that they dared not flatter themselves with 
the idea ; the younger ones rejoiced at the probability that 
they would live to see it ; and the academy, in particular, was 
congratulated on having prepared the great work, and for be- 
ing the focus, the centre, and the prime mover, of liberty of 
thought. 

" A single individual had taken no part in all this pleasant 
conversation, and had even very gently scattered some jokes 
upon their noble enthusiasm. It was M. Cazotte, an amiable 
and original man, but who, unfortunately, was completely taken 
up with the reveries of those who believe in a superior enlight- 
ening. He now took up the discourse, and said in the most 
serious tone : * Gentlemen, rejoice ; you will all become witnes- 
ses of that great and sublime revolution which you so much 
desire. You know that I apply myself a little to prophesying : 
I repeat it, you will all see it.' 

" ' There requires no prophetic gift for that purpose,' was the 
reply. 

" • True,' rejoined he, ' but perhaps something more for what 
I am now going to tell you. Do you know what will result 
from this revolution' (that is, when reason triumphs in opposition 
to revealed religion) 1 ' what it will be to you all, as many as are 
now here 1 what will be its immediate consequences, its unde- 
niable and acknowledged effects V 

"'Let us see!' said Condorcet, putting on an air of sim- 
plicity ; ' it is not disagreeable to a philosopher to meet with a 
prophet.' 

" ' You, M. Condorcet,' continued M. Cazotte, ' you will give 
up the ghost, stretched out on the floor of a subterraneous 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 101 

prison. You will die of poison, that you will have swallowed, 
in order to escape the executioner — of poison, which the hap- 
piness of those times shall compel you always to carry about 
with you !' 

" This, at first, excited great astonishment ; but it was soon 
remembered that the worthy Cazotte sometimes dreamed wa- 
king, and the company burst out into a loud laugh. ' M. Ca- 
zotte,' said one of the guests, ' the tale you relate to us is not 
near so amusing as your " Devil in Love" ' ( l Le Diablc Am- 
oureux 7 is a pretty little romance, written by Cazotte). ' What 
devil has suggested to you the dungeon, the poison, and the 
executioner 1 What has this in common with philosophy and 
the reign of reason V 

" * This is just what I tell you,' replied Cazotte. ' In the 
name of philosophy, in the name of humanity, liberty, and rea- 
son, will it come to pass, that such will be your end : and rea- 
son will then certainly triumph, for she will have her temples ; 
nay, at that period, there will be no other temples in all France 
than the temples of reason.' 

"'Truly,' said Chamfort, with a sarcastic smile, 'you will 
be no priest of these temples.' 

"Cazotte answered: 'I hope not; but you, M. Chamfort, 
who will be one of them, and are very worthy of being so, you 
will open your veins by twenty-two incisions of the razor, and 
yet you will die only some months afterward !' 

11 The company looked at each other, and laughed again. 

" Cazotte continued : ' You, INI. Vicq. d'Azyr, will not open 
your veins yourself, but will afterward cause them to be opened 
six times in one day in an attack of the gout, in order to make 
the matter more sure, and you will die the same night ! 

" 'You, M. Nicolai, will die upon the scaffold ! — 

" ' You, M. Bailly, on the scaffold ! — 

" 'You, M. Malesherbes, on the scaffold !' 

" ' God be thanked !' exclaimed M. Raucher, ' it appears that 
M. Cazotte has only to do with the academicians : he has just 
made dreadful havoc among them. I, Heaven be praised — ' 

9* 



102 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

"Cazotte interrupted him: 'You? — you will die on the 
scaffold also !' 

" ' Ha ! this is a wager,' resounded from all sides ; ' he has 
sworn to exterminate us all!' 

" Cazotte. No, it is not I that have sworn it. 

" The company. Shall we be then under subjection to Turks 
and Tartars? and yet — 

" Cazotte. Nothing less. I have already told you that you 
will then be under the government of philosophy and reason. 
Those that wijl treat you in this manner will be all philoso- 
phers ; they will be continually making use of those very ex- 
pressions which you have been mouthing for the last hour ; they 
will repeat all your maxims, and, like you, will quote the verses 
of Diderot and Pucelle. 

" The guests whispered into each other's ears : ' You see 
clearly that he has lost his reason' (for while speaking thus, he 
continued very serious). ' Don't you see that he is joking, and 
in all his jests he mixes something of the wonderful V — 'Yes,' 
said Chamfort, • but I must confess his wonders are not very 
pleasing ; they are much too gallows-like. And when shall all 
this take place V 

" Cazotte. Six years shall not pass over before all that I have 
told you shall be fulfilled ! 

" 'You tell us many wonderful things' — it was this time I 
(La Harpe) that spoke — ' and do you say nothing of me V 

" ' With respect to you,' answered Cazotte, ' a wonder will 
take place that will be at least quite as remarkable. You will 
then be a Christian !' 

" A general exclamation ! ' Now I am at ease,' said Cham- 
fort; ' if we only perish when La Harpe is a Christian, we are 
immortal.' 

" ' We of the female sex,' said the duchess de Grammont, 
' are fortunate in being reckoned as nothing in revolutions. 
When I say as nothing, I do not intend to say that we do not 
interfere in them a little ; but it is a generally-received maxim 
that we, and those of our sex, are not deemed responsible on 
that account.' 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 103 

" Cazotte. Your sex, ladies, will be this time no protection to 
you ; and however little you may be desirous of interfering, yet 
you will be treated precisely as the men, and no difference will 
be made with respect to you. 

" The duchess. But what is it you are telling us, M. Cazotte ? 
You certainly are announcing the end of the world ! 

" Cazotte. That I know not : but what I do know is, that you, 
my lady duchess, will be drawn to the scaffold — you, and many 
other ladies with you — upon a hurdle, with your hands bound 
behind you. 

" The duchess. I hope, however, in that case, that I shall have 
a mourning-coach. 

" Cazotte. No, madam ! Ladies of higher rank than you 
will be drawn upon a hurdle, with their hands bound behind 
them. 

" The duchess. Ladies of higher rank 1 What, the princesses 
of the blood 1 

" Cazotte. Of still higher rank ! 

" A visible emotion now manifested itself through the whole 
company, and the master of the house assumed an air of dis- 
pleasure. It began to be evident that the joke was carried 
too far. 

" The duchess de Grammont, in order to dispel the cloud, let 
the last reply drop, and contented herself with saying, in a most 
jocular tone, 'You shall see he will not even leave me the con- 
solation of a confessor !' 

"Cazotte. No madam, none will be given, either to you, or 
any one else. The last sufferer to whom the favor of a confes- 
sor will be granted — (here he paused a moment). 

" The duchess. Well, who will be the fortunate mortal be, to 
whom this privilege will be granted ? 

" Cazotte. It will be the only privilege he will retain, and 
this will be the king of France ! 

" The master of the house now hastily arose from the table 
and the whole company with him. He went to M. Cazotte. and 
said with deep emotion, ' My dear Cazotte, this lamentable joke 
has lasted long enough. You carry it too far, and to a degree 



104 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

in which you endanger yourself, and the company in which you 
are.' 

" Cazotte made no reply, and was preparing to depart, when 
the duchess de Grammont, who still endeavored to prevent the 
matter being taken in a serious light, and labored to restore hi- 
larity, went to him and said, ' Now, Mr. Prophet, you have told 
us all our fortunes, but have said nothing of your own fate.' 

" He was silent, cast his eyes downward, and then said, ' Have 
you ever read in Josephus, madam, the history of the siege of 
Jerusalem V 

" The duchess. Certainly ; who has not read it % but do as 
though I had never read it. 

" Cazotte. Well, madam ! during this siege, a man went 
seven successive days upon the walls round the town, in the 
sight of both the besiegers and the besieged, and cried out in- 
cessantly with a mournful voice, ' Wo to Jerusalem ! Wo to 
Jerusalem !' On the seventh day he cried, ' Wo to Jerusalem, 
and wo to myself also !' and in the same moment he was crushed 
to death by an immense stone, hurled from the enemy's engines. 

" After these words, M. Cazotte made his bow and depart- 
ed." Thus far La Harpe. 

Here everything depends upon the whole of this narration 
being true or fictitious, written perhaps after its fulfilment ; for 
it is certainly true, that all those who were present at the dinner 
lost their lives precisely in the manner here predicted by Cazotte. 
The person who gave the entertainment, to whom Cazotte 
prophesied nothing, and who was most probably the duke de 
Chaiseul, was the only one that died a natural death. The wor- 
thy and pious Cazotte was guillotined. 

I ask every candid connoisseur that knows how to distinguish 
that which is ideal from a true copy taken from nature, if this 
narrative can be a fabrication 1 It has so many little shades 
and peculiarities which would never have occurred to an inven- 
tor, and which he would not have regarded as necessary. And 
then where would have been the object of such a fabrication 1 
A freethinker could not have invented it ; because by so doing, 
he would have been acting in complete opposition to his prin- 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 105 

ciples ; for he would thus be disseminating views to which he is 
a mortal enemy, and which he regards as the most stupid super- 
stition. If it be supposed that a fanatic or an enthusiast had in- 
vented it for the purpose of saying something striking, the na- 
ture of the narrative itself, which bears no resemblance to fic- 
tion, contradicts such a supposition, to which must be added the 
certainty that M. La Harpe wrote it with his own hand. It 
may be found in the " Oeuvres Choisies et Posthumes" of M. 
La Harpe, celebrated member of the French academy, pub- 
lished at Paris by Mignerol, in four volumes octavo, in 1806. 

It will scarcely occur to any one, that the editor of the pa- 
pers left by this celebrated man, should have interpolated such 
a document ; this would not seem like the conduct of the French 
and Parisian literati. It is certain, demonstratively certain, that 
La Harpe himself wrote the narrative. This could not have 
occurred while he was still an infidel, for the reasons above- 
mentioned, nor can the idea arise in the mind of any one that is 
acquainted with the thorough conversion of this great man and 
freethinker, that he should have been guilty of such an irreve- 
rent act, as to fabricate such a thing while in that penitent state, 
in which he wept over his former life with tears of blood ; this 
would be morally impossible. To make the matter public be- 
fore his death, was not advisable at the time in which he died. 
Still less did the guests venture to relate it before and during 
the revolution. Yet still La Harpe found the thing so impor- 
tant, and that very justly too, that he wrote it down and laid it 
in his desk till better times. 

A certain M. de N , has inserted the following statement 

in the Parisian journals, with reference to the above extraordi- 
nary prediction of M. Cazotte. He says that " he was very 
well acquainted with this respectable old man, and had often 
heard him speak of the great distress which would befall France, 
at a time when the people in every part of France, lived in per- 
fect security, and expected nothing of the kind. Cazotte as- 
serted that future events were revealed to him through the me^ 

dium of spirits. ' I will state to you,' continues M. de N , 

'a remarkable fact, which is of itself sufficient to establish M. 



106 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

Cazotte as a prophet. Every one knows that his great attach- 
ment to monarchy was the reason of his being sent to the Ab- 
bey, on the 2d of September, 1792, and that he escaped from 
the murderers by the heroic courage of his daughter, who ap- 
peased the mob by the moving spectacle of her filial affections. 
The very same mob that would have put him to death, carried 
him home in triumph.' 

" All his friends came to congratulate him on his escape. M. 

D , who visited him after that guilty day, said to him, ' Now 

you are safe !' — 'I believe not/ answered Cazotte. ' In three 

days, I shall be guillotined!' M. D replied, 'How can 

that be V Cazotte continued : ' Yes, my frieud, in three days 
I shall die upon the scaffold !' In saying this, he was deeply 
affected, and added, ' A short time before your arrival, I saw a 
gensd'armes enter, who was sent to take me by an order from 
Pethion. I was compelled to follow him : I appeared before 
the mayor of Paris, who sent me to the Conciergerie, whence I 
came before the Revolutionary Tribunal. Thus, my friend, 
you see' (that is, from M. Cazotte's vision) ' that my hour is 
come ; and I am so persuaded of it, that I am arranging all my 
affairs. Here are papers, which I am very anxious should be 
handed over to my wife : I request you to give them to her, 
and console her.' 

" M. D declared this was all folly, and left him with the 

conviction that his reason had suffered at the sight of the hor- 
rors he had escaped. 

" The next day he came again, but learned that a gensd'armes 

had conducted M. Cazotte to the municipality. M. D ran 

to Pethion. On arriving at the mayor's court, he learned that 
his friend had just been sent to prison. He hastened to him, 
but was told that he could not be spoken to, for he was to be 
judged by the f. Revolutionary Tribunal.' Soon after, he learned 

that his friend was condemned and executed." — " M. D ," 

adds the writer, " is a man who is worthy of all credit. He 
was still living in July, 1806. He related this narrative to 
many persons, and it seemed to me not unimportant to preserve 
the remembrance of it." 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 107 

So far the communication in the Paris papers. 

I have taken the whole of this remarkable relation from a 
small pamphlet, printed at Strasburg, by Silbermann, the title 
of which is, — "A Remarkable Prophecy concerning the 
Dreadful French Revolution, from the Writings of the late 
Monsr. La Harpe, specially printed from the Religious Jour- 
nal." 

A year ago, when I was in L , I spoke with Baron Von 

W , who is a man of great integrity, and had long resided 

in Paris. I related to him this wonderful narrative, on which 
he told me that he had been well acquainted with M. Cazotte ; 
that he was a pious man, and was noted for predicting many 
things, which were minutely fulfilled. 

This narrative is therefore most certainly and assuredly true. 
If it be so, I then ask every reasonable and impartial individual 
if there exists, since the time of the apostles, a more remarka- 
ble and important testimony of the existence of the kingdom of 
spirits, and its influence on the visible world % I know of none. 
I should like to know how the materialist, when convinced of 
the fact, would explain the extraordinary phenomenon. It is 
really most singular — if a comet appear in the heavens, all eyes 
are immediately fixed upon it, and all that are fond of astrono- 
my immediately study what course it takes, &c. If a new gas 
be discovered, every chemist is immediately on the alert to ex- 
amine it. If a plant, an insect, or a stone, be found, which has not 
been previously known or described, what attention is excited 
— what a marvellous matter is made of it! But as soon as 
appearances are spoken of, which only remotely give hints of 
the truths of the Christian religion, of the duration of the soul 
after death, of the existence of good and evil angels and spirits, 
and of their influence upon the visible world — appearances 
which are a million times more important than all natural phe- 
nomena in the material world — they are passed by with a sar- 
castic sneer. "Superstition and fanaticism !" is then the cry, 
and all who examine into, investigate, and rectify, these things, 
are scoffed at and calumniated ; and the results of their investi- 
gations, however true they may be, and however clearly demon- 



108 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

strated, are exclaimed against as trifling, extremely dangerous, 
and highly prejudicial to society, and are suppressed as much 
as possible ; while works that promote infidelity, and the falling 
away from Christ, and the lewdest romances, which poison and 
as it were satanize the spirit, are suffered to take their course, 
nor is a single alarm sounded upon the occasion ! 

My dear contemporaries, whence comes this shocking feeling, 
this horrible disgust of everything which may only remotely dis- 
close to us something of the state of the soul after death? — 
Whence this bitterness against Christ and his most holy religion ? 
Yes, bitterness — do not deny it ! People are ashamed to men- 
tion his hallowed name in respectable society, but they speak 
with pleasure of the phantoms of the Grecian and Roman the- 
ology : it is well bred to converse upon them, and adorn their 
sonnets with them. My God, what infatuation, and what per- 
verseness of that intellectual enlightening, which is so much 
boasted of! 

However important, and I might say sacred, as Cazotte's 
prophecy is, yet we ought not, on this account, to place the 
worthy man in the rank of true Bible prophets. He was a 
pious man, whose faculty of presentiment was developed in a 
high degree, but his religious feelings were the reason why he 
fell into connection not so much with false as with good spirits, 
from whom he learned what would shortly take place. He was 

much about in the same situation as Mrs. W , whom I have 

mentioned in the preceding narrative. 

But, by this, I do not mean to say that Cazotte was not a 
herald of God at this Belshazzar's feast — a hand that wrote 
upon the wall, with letters of flame, the words " Mene, Tekel, 
Upharsin !" Providence made use of this serviceable instru- 
ment to arouse those sinners that were thus sleeping on the 
mast-head in the storm. 

What this voice of thunder may have wrought, is known only 
to the Omniscient : it may, however, have excited reflection in 
some instances ; and who knows if not just in the most melan- 
choly period of fulfilment, the remembrance of Cazotte's proph- 
ecy may not have been attended with happy effects ! Probably 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 109 

it was also, if not the immediate, yet the remote cause of La 
Harpe's conversion. 

If the developed faculty of presentiment can only be instructed 
by information from the invisible world, concerning those things 
which are about to happen in a short time, and for which the 
foundation is already laid : it appears difficult to explain how 
Cazotte could know, six years before, everything so distinctly, 
even the number of incisions with the razor, the number of 
blood-lettings, &c. ; to which I reply, that the French Revolu- 
tion, in its results the most important event in the whole history 
of the world, was planned many years before. I know, from 
an eye-and-ear-witness, that just at the period when Louis XVI. 
was affianced to Marie Antoinette of Austria — at the time when 
this marriage was concluded upon in Vienna — the fall of the 
royal family was determined, and this marriage-contract alone 
frustrated its accomplishment. 

It is also very probable, that the inhabitants of the invisible 
world, and especially good angels and spirits, read in the tables 
of Providence, and are thus able to know at least certain future 
events. So much is clear from all the credible information 
from the invisible world, that everything which takes place in 
the material world is previously arranged there, and that thence 
the whole human race is governed, yet in such a manner that 
the free will of man is not under compulsion. 

I now descend from the higher stage of the developed faculty 
of presentiment to an inferior one ; while I purpose inquiring 
what opinion ought to be formed of what is called " second- 
sight," and what ought to be believed or disbelieved concern- 
ing it. 

When a person resides for a while in the villages, among the 
lower orders, he will occasionally hear' of some grave-digger, 
watchman, attendant upon the dead, nurse, &c, or of some one 
else, that can foresee funerals. This second-sight generally 
manifests itself as follows : the individual feels himself impelled, 
generally in the night-time, to go out toward the neighborhood 
of the house out of which the corpse is to be brought ; he then 
sees the procession, with all, even the minutest of its details. 

10 



110 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

There is no doubt but that much dreaming and delusion is min- 
gled with the matter, but the thing itself is correct, and is cer- 
tainly true. 

In my younger days, there was a dinner given in the village 
where I was bom, on the occasion of a baptism, to which the 
clergyman, a very worthy man, was invited. During dinner, 
the conversation turned upon the grave-digger of the place, who 
was well known, particularly on account of his second-sight, 
and even feared ; for as often as he saw a corpse, he was always 
telling that there would be a funeral out of such and such a 
house. Now, as the event invariably took place, the inhabit- 
ants of the house he indicated were placed by the man's tale in 
the greatest dilemma and anxiety, particularly if there was any 
one in the house who was ill or sickly, whose death might prob- 
ably be hastened if the prediction were not concealed from him 
— which, however, generally took place. 

This man's prophecies were an abomination to the clergy- 
man. He forbade it, he reproved, he scolded, but all to no 
purpose ; for the poor dolt, although he was a drunkard, and a 
man of low and vulgar sentiments, believed firmly that it was a 
prophetic gift of God, and that he must make it known, in order 
that the people might still repent. At length, as all reproof was 
in vain, the clergyman gave him notice that if he announced one 
funeral more, he should be deprived of his place, and expelled 
the village. This availed — the grave-digger was silent from 
that time forward. Half a year afterward, in autumn, about 
the year 1745, the grave-digger comes to the clergyman and 
says : " Sir, you have forbidden me to announce any more fu- 
nerals, and I have not done so since, nor will I do so any more ; 
but I must now tell you something that is particularly remark- 
able, that you may see that my second-sight is really true. In 
a few weeks a corpse will be brought up the meadow, which 
will be drawn on a sledge by an ox." The clergyman seem- 
ingly paid no attention to this, but listened to it with indiffer- 
ence, and replied : " Only go about your business, and leave 
off such superstitious follies ; it is sinful to have anything to do 
with them." 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. Ill 

The thing, nevertheless, appeared extremely singular and 
remarkable to the clergyman ; for, in my country, a corpse 
being drawn on a sledge by an ox is most disgraceful, because 
the bodies of those that commit suicide, and notorious malefac- 
tors, are thus drawn on sledges. 

Some weeks after, a strong body of Austrian troops passed 
through the village on their way to the Netherlands. While 
resting there a day, the snow fell nearly three feet deep. At 
the same time, a woman died in another village of the same 
parish. The military took away all the horses out of the coun- 
try to drag their wagons. Meanwhile the corpse lay there ; no 
horses came back ; the corpse began to putrify, and the stench 
became intolerable : they were, therefore, compelled to make 
a virtue of necessity — to place the corpse upon a sledge and 
harness an ox to the vehicle. 

In the meantime, the clergyman and the schoolmaster with 
his scholars proceeded to the entrance of the village to meet 
the corpse; and, as the funeral came along the meadow in this 
array, the grave-digger stepped up to the clergyman, pulled 
him by the gown, pointed with his finger to it, and said not a 
word. 

Such was the tale, with all its circumstances, as related by 
the clergyman. I was well acquainted with the good man : 
he was incapable of telling an untruth, much less in a matter 
which contradicted all his principles. 

Another history of this kind, for the truth of which I can 
vouch, was related to me by my late father and his brother, 
both very pious men, and to whom it would have been impos- 
sible to have told a falsehood. 

Both of them had business, on one occasion, in the West- 
phalian province of Mark, when they were invited to dinner at 
the protestant preacher's. During the repast, the subject of 
second-sight was likewise brought upon the carpet. The min- 
ister spoke of it with acrimony, because he had also a grave- 
digger who was afflicted with that evil : he had often and 
repeatedly forbidden him from mentioning it, but all to no 
purpose. 



112 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

On one occasion, the prognosticator came to the minister 
and said, " I have to tell you, sir, that in a short time there 
will be a funeral from your house, and you will have to follow 
the coffin before all the other funeral attendants." Terror, 
anger, and displeasure, got so much the better of the good 
pastor, that he drove the thoughtless fellow out of the door ; 
for his wife was near her confinement : and, notwithstanding 
every rational view which he took, he passed a very melan- 
choly time of it, till at length his wife was safely delivered and 
out of all danger. He now reproached the grave-digger most 
bitterly, and said, " See, now, how unfounded thy reveries 
have been !" But the corpse-seer only smiled and said, " Sir, 
the matter is not yet finished." 

Immediately afterward the preacher's servant-maid died of 
an apoplexy. Now, it is the custom there for the master of 
the house, on such occasions, to immediately follow the coffin, 
before the next relatives : but this time the preacher endeav- 
ored to avoid it, in order to confound the corpse-seer. He did 
not venture, however, to offend the parents of the deceased, 
which he would have done most grossly if he had not followed 
the coffin. He found, therefore, a suitable excuse in the cir- 
cumstance that his wife — who, according to the custom prev- 
alent there, was then to go to church for the first time after her 
confinement — should take his place, and he would then accom- 
pany the schoolmaster and his scholars, as was usual. 

This was discussed and agreed upon, and the parents were 
likewise satisfied with it. On the day when the funeral was to 
take place, the company assembled at the parsonage. The 
coffin lay on a bier in the porch ; the schoolmaster with his 
scholars stood in a circle in front of the house and sang; — the 
minister was just going out to his appointed place ; his wife 
stepped behind the coffin, and the bearers laid hold of the 
bier, when that very moment the minister's wife fell down in a 
fit; she was taken into a room, and brought again to herself, 
but was so ill that she could not go to church ; and the minis- 
ter was so terrified by this accident, that it no longer occurred 
to him to make the grave-digger into a liar, but he stepped 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 113 

very quietly behind the coffin, as the prognosticator would 
have it. 

The circumstance of the minister's wife falling into a fit, and 
it taking place just there and then, might proceed from very 
natural causes ; but this does not detract from the remarkable- 
ness of the thing, the prediction was at all events punctually 
fulfilled. 

As the developed faculty of presentiment is a capability of 
experiencing the arrangements, which are made in the world of 
spirits, and executed in the visible world, second-sight certainly 
belongs also under this head. And as those that possess this ca- 
pability are generally simple people, it again follows hence that 
a developed faculty of presentiment is by no means a quality 
which belongs solely to devout and pious people, or that it 
should be regarded as a divine gift : I take it, on the contrary, 
for a disease of the soul, which we ought rather to endeavor to 
heal than promote. 

He that has a natural disposition for it, and then fixes his 
imagination long and intensely, and therefore magically upon 
a certain object, may at length be able, with respect to this 
object, to foresee things which have reference to it. Grave-dig- 
gers, nurses, and such as are employed to undress and shroud 
the dead, watchmen, and the like, are accustomed to be con- 
tinually reflecting on objects which stand in connection with 
death and interment : what wonder, therefore, if their faculty 
of presentiment at length develop itself on these subjects % and 
I am almost inclined to maintain that it may be promoted by 
drinking ardent spirits. 

It is highly incumbent upon the police to forbid such peo- 
ple, upon pain of imprisonment, even to reveal what they have 
seen ; and if it be of such a nature that it may be regarded as a 
Providential warning, let them tell it to him only who is to be 
warned. It must, however, be well observed that Providence 
will rarely make use of such corrupt and superstitious instru- 
ments. 

There is a great difference between Mrs. W , Cazotte, 

and persons of that description, and between these second- 

10* 



114 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

sighted individuals. The wise and enlightened Christian is 
well aware how he ought to regard things of this nature, and 
what use to make of them. 

In the second section of the second volume of the Magazine 
for Experimental Psychology, mention is made of a respect- 
able individual, to whom the countenances of those who arte 
soon to die appear as if they had already laid some days in 
the grave, and that this presentiment is disagreeable to him. 

I have already said that the developed faculty of presenti- 
ment experiences the result of arrangements which are made 
in the invisible world, and not these arrangements themselves. 
This result must be made sensible, in order to pass over into 
the consciousness of the sensible man. Now, this always hap- 
pens according to the predisposition of the man's nature : sec- 
ond-sighted individuals view things in their own imagination 
in as lively a manner as though they saw them in reality : spir- 
its communicate information to others, as was the case with 

Mrs. W and Cazotte : in the instance abovementioned, this 

result produced the appearance of death in the visages of those 
that were candidates for the tomb. 

T could adduce still more undoubted facts of this kind ; but, 
in order to avoid prolixity, the above may suffice. It is 
strange and extremely remarkable that people do not pay atten- 
tion to such very important occurrences, but pass by them with 
contempt. Appearances, which can not be explained on the 
basis of mere sensible reasoning, are certainly the most impor- 
tant of all, because they point out to us the way to that which 
is above the senses, which, for men whose noblest part is 
super-sensible, is of inexpressible value. 

It must be of infinite importance to every reasonable mind 
to know, with certainty, whether what the Bible teaches of 
God, of the fall of the first man, of redemption by Jesus 
Christ, of the spiritual world and its influence on the material 
world, and of the existence of the soul after death, be true or 
not true, well or ill founded. 

This question is of extreme importance, because the present 
prevailing rationalism, by its mechanic philosophy, in part de- 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 115 

nies it altogether, and in part doubts it ; thereby robbing man- 
kind, in a direct manner, of the most valuable consolation, and 
of that precious hope of which they stand so much in need. 
Let the following remark be thoroughly and impartially con- 
sidered, investigated, and digested. 

If, in every age, there have been many real instances of 
rationally upright and pious men having testified that they had 
intercourse with beings from the world of spirits — if these be- 
ings relate to them events which are either taking place at a 
distance, or will take place in future, and which the natural 
man can not possibly know from all that surrounds him and 
operates upon him in the visible world — and if these events 
are most punctually fulfilled, are not the existence of a world of 
spirits, its sympathy with the fall of man, and its influence upon 
them, even as incontestably proved as the existence of electric 
matter, galvanism, magnetism, and the sympathy and influence 
of those powers upon material nature 1 

But, as materialism, with its pretended illumination, directly 
contradicts these undoubted facts, its assertions with reference 
to the world of spirits, and the influence which the latter exer- 
cises upon the visible world, must be totally false. 

Further, as all incidents of this nature which have occurred, 
or have been observed from time immemorial to the present 
(in so far as they are removed from phantasma and enthusiasm), 
are in minute accordance with Divine revelation, and are, so 
to speak, a continued revelation : the one, therefore, confirms 
the truth of the other, and, consequently, also the truth of the 
Christian religion, according to the ancient apostolic system. 

Now from all this it follows, undeniably, that we ought most 
minutely and thoroughly to examine and investigate every ap- 
pearance from the invisible world, with candor and impartiality, 
in order to be able to distinguish with certainty, that which is 
true, from that which is false, illusion and deception from real- 
ity, and the play of imagination from the essential presence of 
a spirit. 

In this way, we shall attain to the pure and unmingled light 
of truth, and also to a tranquillizing conviction with respect to 



116 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

religion, which has sustained so rude a shock from materialism. 
But obvious and simple as this axiom may be, it has, however, 
been hitherto little followed. Every one, even the most simple, 
must perceive that such appearances are of extreme impor- 
tance, and that it is, therefore, an imperious duty to examine 
into the truth of them. The causes which have prevented this 
examination, are three : — 

1. The panic fear which seizes all men, even the most cour- 
ageous, when they see something to which they can not assign 
a place in the visible world, prevents all approach, and divests 
them of all courage for calm investigation. 

2. Superstition, by which by far the greatest part of mankind 
is governed, believes every deception, and takes every phantom 
for a real apparition ; and because it thus firmly believes, it 
therefore deems any further examination or investigation use- 
less. And 

3. With infidelity, it is system and principle to believe noth- 
ing whatever, that regards supernatural things. It has been 
decided, once for all, that there is no world of spirits, or if there 
be, that it stands in no relation to us, it has no influence upon 
us, nor upon the visible world that surrounds us, consequently, 
all is deceit and delusion, and unworthy of investigation. It is, 
however, no good sign that this investigation or belief in pre- 
sentiments, visions, and apparitions, is branded with opprobri- 
um, and does no honor to enlightened rationalism, for it is a 
sure proof that danger threatens it thence, and that on that side 
it may be easily overcome. 

I hope that my meaning in all this will be rightly apprehend- 
ed, and that I shall not be misunderstood ; the true believer 
needs no such testimony from the invisible world : he possesses 
the Bible and the blissful experience that the true religion of 
Christ has manifested itself as truth in his heart ; and he would 
act very criminally if he suffered himself to be misled by pre- 
sumptuous curiosity, to seek intercourse with the invisible world 
on this side the grave. But if this intercourse comes of itself, 
by the development of his faculty of presentiment, let him not 
regard it as ;my thing extraordinary, but supplicate wisdom to 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 117 

be able to act with it according to the will of God. But if any- 
thing of a peculiar nature appear to him, let him go up to it 
undismayed in the name and fear of God, not from criminal 
curiosity, but in compassionate charity j let him then examine 
it closely and rationally, and if it really be a being from the 
other world, let him ask with the solemn dignity of a Christian, 
and in the name of God and Jesus Christ, what it desires ? If 
the spirit then express itself in such a manner, that he finds it 
is still in error, he must seek to teach it better; but if it desire 
anything reasonable, let him fulfil its desire to the best of his 
ability. In the following division of the work, which treats 
solely and wholly of the appearance of spirits, I will commu- 
nicate, for the information of the studious reader, very remarka- 
ble instances of this kind. I also advise the candid, though incred- 
ulous skeptic, to calm investigation ; for there is really nothing 
more necessary than the application of every possible means 
to obtain increasing certainty in a matter so inexpressibly im- 
portant. 

Finally, I leave it to the consideration of every rational mind, 
whether a creation which is governed by intelligences, by free 
and rational beings, is not more worthy of God, and more ben- 
eficial and agreeable to man, than a world, which, with all the 
human race, is under subjection to the adamantine and unchange- 
able jurisdiction of material powers. 

What is denominated witchcraft or enchantment, and the be- 
lief or superstitious faith in it, is also sunk down from its height 
into the dust, since the times of Becker and Thomasius. As 
this subject also stands connected with the developed faculty 
of presentiment, it is worth the while, and incumbent upon 
me to investigate it closely and impartially, and according to 
truth. 

It is certain from a variety of instances, that those whose fac- 
ulty of presentiment is developed, may enter into connection 
and intercourse with spirits. This I have proved in the prece- 
ding pages, and will further demonstrate it. 

It is quite as certain that those spirits with which such a per- 
son comes into connection bear an affinity to him with reference 



118 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

to his moral character. Good spirits join themselves to the 
good, wicked to the wicked, and partially good and evil to those 
that are partially good and evil. Yet evil spirits, in the guise 
of angels of light, seek also to deceive good men ; while good 
angels seldom associate with people whose faculty of presenti- 
ment is developed, because this is contrary to nature and the 
Divine order, unless such persons are far advanced in sanctifi- 
cation. All these are unquestionable experimental truths, as I 
will more convincingly show in the sequel. 

That wicked men, either from a natural predisposition, or by 
means of certain arts, are capable of developing their faculty of 
presentiment, and thus forming connections with evil spirits, 
does not admit of a doubt ; but whether evil spirits have still 
that power which superstition ascribes to them, is another ques- 
tion. Since the conquest and triumph of our ever-blessed Re- 
deemer, their tyranny and despotism over mankind have ceased : 
those only are in bondage to them, who voluntarily let them- 
selves be led and misled by them. Wicked and impious men 
are in their power, but still only as long as they themselves are 
willing to be so. Evil spirits also strive with all kinds of weap- 
ons against true Christians (Ephesians vi.), but they can never 
conquer, unless by the man's own fault. Resist the devil, and 
he will flee from you. He carries on his work only in the chil- 
dren of disobedience, and in them he continues to exercise his 
power. 

Therefore supposing there are those who stand in connection 
with evil spirits, and are able to unite with them for the pur- 
pose of injuring others, yet it is utterly impossible for them to 
succeed in the attempt. Satan can injure no man, nor hurt a 
single hair of his head, unless he himself give occasion to it, and 
open the door for him. What is commonly believed concern- 
ing bewitching, and that a variety of diseases and bodily ail- 
ments, in both men and cattle, are occasioned by witchcraft, is 
superstition, and commonly either delusion and deceit, or a 
malady and casualty which physicians have been hitherto una- 
ble to explain from natural causes. Since Jesus Christ has sat 
down on the throne of the Majesty on high, at his Father's right 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 119 

hand, Satan has no longer power over the human race, whom 
he has purchased with his precious blood. 

Witches and wizards can therefore injure no one by their 
connection with evil spirits, but they may do so, like any other 
wicked men, by administering poison or any other pernicious 
thiner. 

o 

But whether a period may not still arrive, in which Satan 
will be left at full liberty to try, by means of his instruments, 
all his might and power, in order thus to become fully ripe for 
judgment, and prove the fidelity of the true worshippers of 
God, by a conflict even unto blood, is another question. It is 
altogether a different affair from what is generally termed witch- 
craft. 

In order to give my readers a correct idea of this infamous 
subject, I will relate to them its history and its true character. 

Our ancient heathen forefathers had an order of priests whose 
members were called Druids. These priests had a variety of 
mysteries, rites, and sacrifices, which they celebrated in the 
gloom of oaken forests, and of which the vulgar were to remain 
in ignorance. It is very probable that in these practices, par- 
ticularly before the time of Christ, much connection with wicked 
spirits and satanic influence prevailed. 

Into this mysterious, spiritual order, old women were also 
received, who by this means attained to considerable rank, and 
became priestesses. Such an individual then received the title 
of Haxa — Druidess. Both these names were, at that time, 
honorable appellations : they are now the most disgraceful 
terms of reproach. The name of Gertrude or Gertrudis is 
probably also derived from this source, and ought reasonably 
to be disused ; for it has the same meaning with the word haxa, 
or hexe — a witch. 

These witches assisted at the solemnities of the Druids ; they 
had also a particular solemnity of their own, and a sacrificial 
feast, which was always celebrated on a lofty mountain on the 
night of the first of May, when they danced, feasted, and hon- 
ored their heathen deities. The Brocken, or Blocksberg — per- 
haps also Blocksberg in the Hartz — was particularly famous, 



120 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

and there the idol was worshipped under the figure of a large 
goat. In general, the office of these Druids consisted in pro- 
nouncing benedictions, conjurations, enchanting, and disen- 
chanting, but chiefly in preparing medicines and healing dis- 
eases. Hence, a certain number of witches were always 
obliged to go with the army in war-time to heal the wounded. 
It is easy to conceive that where superstition, error, ignorance, 
and even wickedness, prevailed in such a high degree, evil 
spirits had free operation, and to what abominations such 
heathens might be seduced. 

In the south of Germany, Christianity gradually gained 
ground : but in the north — in Upper and Lower Saxony, two 
provinces which at that time composed the greatest part of 
Northern Germany — heathenism continued in all its force, till 
Charlemagne at length totally conquered the Saxons, and com- 
pelled them, sword in hand, to accept the Christian faith. But 
this very compulsion was the reason that, though they publicly 
assisted at the Christian form of divine worship, yet they se- 
cretly long continued their heathenish rites, till the light of the 
gospel gradually dispelled all the darkness. 

The witches remained the longest in activity ; for, as the 
people were still destitute of physicians, and could therefore 
have recourse to no one, nor had so much confidence in any 
one as in them, they therefore applied to them on all occasions 
when they required their assistance ; enchanting, disenchanting, 
blessing, conjuring of spirits, &c, continued to be practised; 
and as the witches believed they could not perform the one, if 
the other were not united with it, they therefore continued, 
though secretly, their sacrificial feasts on Wallburg's night at 
the Blocksberg, notwithstanding it was prohibited on pain of 
being burnt alive. It is asserted, from real traces having been 
discovered, that these meetings were continued till the com- 
mencement of the seventeenth century. 

Several years ago, there appeared a book entitled " Uhuhu, 
or the History of Witches, Ghosts, Goldfinders, and Appari- 
tions" — published by George Adam Kayser : Erfurt, 1785, — 
in which the anonymous author furnishes extracts from ancient 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 121 

criminal documents and processes. These, it is true, show the 
irrational and revolting methods of procedure at that time, 
against those poor creatures that were suspected of witchcraft, 
compelling them, by torture, to confess things of themselves 
and others which had previously never entered into their minds ; 
but, notwithstanding all this, there are also numerous voluntary 
confessions, from which the candid and impartial reader may 
clearly perceive that a most corrupt imagination, filled with the 
most impure and abominable ideas, was united to a developed 
faculty of presentiment, by means of which the wretched crea- 
tures had connection and intercourse with wicked and impure 
spirits, who promised them all sorts of fine things, deceived 
them in all manner of ways, made them believe they could 
occasionally do wonders, and by this means injure those whom 
they had a spite against; but at the bottom it was all juggling 
and delusion. 

I will not deny that such wretches have occasionally done 
their fellow-creatures much harm, and that evil spirits have 
assisted them in both word and deed ; but Satan can not injure 
any one directly, nor do so by means of such wicked instru- 
ments, when the individual himself does not give him an oppor- 
tunity of doing so, by laying aside the fear of God. 

I am acquainted with a tale, for the truth of which I can 
vouch, because it is taken from the official documents of an old 
witch process. An old woman was imprisoned, put to the tor- 
ture, and confessed all that witches are generally charged with. 
Among others, she also denounced a neighbor of hers, who had 
been with her on the Blocksberg, the preceding Wallburg's 
night. This woman was called and asked if it were true, what 
the prisoner said of her. On which she stated, that on Wall- 
burg's eve, she had called upon this woman, because she had 
something to say to her. On entering her kitchen, she found 
the prisoner busy in preparing a decoction of herbs. On ask- 
ing her what she was boiling, she said, with a smiling and 
mysterious mien, " Wilt thou go with me to-night to the Broc- 
ken | w From curiosity, and in order to ascertain what there 
was in the matter, she answered, " Yes, I should like to go 

11 



122 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

well enough." On which, the prisoner chattered some time 
about the feast, and the dance, and the enormous goat. She 
then drank of the decoction and offered it to her, saying, 
" There, take a hearty drink of it, that thou mayest be able to 
ride through the air :" she likewise put the pot to her mouth, 
and made as if she drank of it, but did not taste a drop. 
During this, the prisoner had""put a pitchfork between her 
legs, and placed herself upon the hearth ; then she soon sank 
down and began to sleep and snore. After having looked on 
for some time, she was at length tired of it and went home. 

The next morning, the prisoner came to her and said, 
" Well, how dost thou like being at the Brocken 1 Sith, there 
were glorious doings." On which she had laughed heartily, 
and told her that she had not drunk of the potion, and that she, 
the prisoner, had not been at the Brocken, but had slept, with 
her pitchfork, upon the hearth. That the woman, on this, be- 
came angry, and said to her that she ought not to deny having 
been at the Brocken, and having danced and kissed the goat. 

This fact gives us a key to the otherwise incomprehensible 
confessions of those called witches. This must have been one 
of the magic potions of the ancient Druids, by means of which 
an imagination, already entirely filled with devilish imagery, 
might, through the sleep occasioned by the potion, become so 
elevated as to make the poor, deluded women firmly believe 
that all they dreamed was reality. In this way, almost every- 
thing which occurs in these judicial proceedings may be ex- 
plained, though otherwise incredible. 

Such persons ought to be taught better, and to be convinced 
of the abominable nature of such habits of thinking. If they 
are convicted of having done harm to their neighbor — which 
ought not, however, to be brought about by torture — let them 
be punished according to the measure of their crime, but not 
as witches. 

Here I must allude to a vice, which is very prevalent 
among the lower class, and which, in my eyes, is more detest- 
able than witchcraft itself: that is, when one person, from a 
mere unfounded supposition, causes another to be suspected of 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 123 

witchcraft. This is horrible ! I have known several instances 
where the peasant-women, merely from hatred or envy, have 
caused the suspicion of witchcraft to attach to some honest and 
pious neighbor of theirs, when perhaps a cow gave bloody 
milk, or something ailed a child. Such a suspicion spreads 
like a pestilential vapor from ear to ear, in every direction, and 
then the whole earthly happiness of the innocent family is at an 
end. Every one avoids them ; no one associates, without ne- 
cessity, with any of its members ; people are afraid to buy of 
them, or deal with them ; and no one likes to marry into the 
family. Now, does not the individual who raises such a suspi- 
cion commit the sin of sorcery 1 Such satanic beings deserve 
being burned, sooner than a poor witch. 

Christ says, expressly, that he will measure unto every one 
that judges thus uncharitably with the same measure which he 
has used to his neighbor : that is, he that declares a fellow- 
creature to be a sorcerer or a witch, shall be judged as such 
himself. 

When we read the late M. Eckhartshausen's Key to Magic, 
we must feel astonished at the wonderful things which may be 
effected by art ; but we discover also the dim line of demarca- 
tion between the visible and the invisible worlds. 

In the second edition of his book, published at Munich by 
Jos. Lentner, 1791, page 57, he relates a most remarkable and 
instructive incident. To insert it here entirely, in his own 
words, would exceed my limits : I will therefore content myself 
with quoting the substance of it. 

Eckhartshausen became acquainted with a Scotsman, who, 
though he meddled not with the conjuration of spirits and such 
like charlatanry, had learned, however, a remarkable piece of 
art from a Jew, which he communicated also to Eckhartshau- 
sen, and made the experiment with him, which is surprising 
and worthy of perusal. He that wishes to raise and see any 
particular spirit must prepare himself for it, for some days 
together, both spiritually and physically. There are also par- 
ticular and remarkable requisites and relations necessary be- 
tween such a spirit and the person who wishes to see it — 



124 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

relations which can not otherwise be explained than on the 
ground of the intervention of some secret influence from the 
invisible world. After all these preparations, a vapor is pro- 
duced in a room — from certain materials which Eckhartshau- 
sen, with propriety, does not divulge, on account of the dan- 
gerous abuse which might be made of it — which visibly forms 
itself into a figure that bears a resemblance to that which the 
person wishes to see. In this there is no question of any magic 
lantern or optical artifice; but the vapor really forms a human 
figure, similar to that which the individual desires to behold. 
I will now insert the conclusion of the story in Eckhartshau- 
sen's own words : — 

" Some time after the departure of the stranger — that is, of 
the Scotsman — I made the experiment for one of my friends. 
He saw as I did, and had the same sensations. 

" The observations that we made were these : as soon as the 
ingredients were thrown into the chafing-dish, a whitish body 
forms itself, that seems to hover above the chafing-dish as large 
as life. It possesses the likeness of the person whom we 
wished to see, only the visage is of an ashy paleness. 

"On approaching the figure, one is conscious of a resistance 
similar to what is felt when going against a strong wind, which 
drives one back. 

" If one speaks with it, one remembers no more distinctly 
what is spoken ; and when the appearance vanishes, one feels 
as if awaking from a dream. The head is stupefied, and a 
contraction is felt in the abdomen. It is also very singular that 
the same appearance presents itself when one is in the dark, 
or when looking upon dark objects. 

" The unpleasantness of this sensation was the reason why I 
was unwilling to repeat the experiment, although often urged 
to do so by many persons. 

"A young gentleman once came to me, and would, per force, 
see this phenomenon. As he was a person of tender nerves 
and lively imagination, I was the more reluctant to comply 
with his request, and asked the advice of a very experienced 
physician, to whom I revealed the whole mystery. He main- 






PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 125 

tamed that the narcotic ingredients which formed the vapor 
must of necessity violently affect the imagination, and might be 
very injurious according to circumstances; he also believed 
that the preparation which was prescribed contributed much 
to excite the imagination, and told me to make the trial for 
myself with a very small quantity, and without any preparation 
whatever. I did so one day after dinner, when the physician 
had been dining with me ; but scarcely had I cast the quantity 
of ingredients into the chafing-dish, when a figure presented 
itself. I was, however, seized with such a horror, that T was 
obliged to leave the room. I was very ill during three hours, 
and thought I saw the figure always before me. Toward 
evening, after inhaling the fumes of vinegar and drinking it 
with water, I was better again ; but for three weeks afterward 
I felt a debility ; and the strangest part of the matter is, that 
when I remember the circumstance, and look for some time 
upon any dark object, this ashy-pale figure still presents itself 
very vividly to my sight. After this, I no longer dared to 
make any experiments with it. 

" The same stranger gave me also another powder, and 
asserted that if it were burnt in a churchyard during the night, 
a multitude of the dead would be seen hovering; over the graves : 
but, as this powder consisted of narcotic ingredients, which were 
still more potent, I never ventured to make the attempt. 

" Be the matter, however, as it may, it is still singular, and 
deserves the investigation of naturalists. I have already pro- 
cured the opinion of several learned men and friends, and 
made no secret to them of the ingredients, but do not find 
it advisable to make them public. I annex a striking and 
remarkable letter, from a man of profound reflection, resfardins; 
this phenomenon. 

" Extract from a letter, dated W , 17th Dec, 17S5 : — 

" ' Tims there are, really, things in nature of which 

our philosophy does not permit us to dream. The Deity has 
concealed much from mortals, and the Eternal has, with refer- 
ence to us, affixed his immutable seal upon many of nature's 
mysteries. All is not imagination — much may be reality; for 

10* 



126 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

remember, dear sir, that at one time immense oceans were the 
divisions that separated us from men whom Europeans knew 
not, and that there are similar walls of partition between us 
and other beings, of whom we mortals have hitherto no idea. 
Much may be deceit and delusion, but assuredly all is not so. 
Svvedenborg and Falck were certainly no deceivers, and yet 
their existence is to us a mystery, and will perhaps remain so 
to many, till the grapes are ripe on the vine and the time of 
the vintage arrives. I would not wish to number SchroepfFer 
and Boehmer with the two former, although much respecting 
them is still enigmatical to me. Man has invented ships, and 
commenced an intercourse with unknown nations that dwell 
beyond the seas : why should it be impossible to form a con- 
nection with the world of spirits, since all is a chain, and all 
makes a whole V " 

So far Eckhartshausen. What he says further is remark- 
able, but too prolix to be inserted here. The powder especially, 
that was to cause the dead to be seen in the churchyards, is ex- 
tremely remarkable. I know to a certainty, and my venerable 
friend Pfeffel knows it likewise, from a remarkable incident, 
that there are men whose faculty of presentiment is so devel- 
oped, with respect to the organ of vision, that they see vapory 
forms of human resemblance above the graves, occasionally in 
the daytime, but more frequently in the night. I am of 
opinion that this is the resurrection-germ, which no physical 
power of nature can destroy.* But the reason why those 

* This idea of a "resurrection-germ" is a mere figment of the author's fancy, 
unrecognised either by revelation or reason, and contravening, in fact, the general 
tenor of Sailing's own theory. He holds unequivocally to the existence of a 
psychical or soul-body involved in the material body and developed from it at death. 
The emergence of this interior from the exterior body constitutes the only resur- 
rection which we are taught to expect, and this needs no other "germ" than that 
of the spiritual body itself. The speculation of the author on this head has its origin 
in the old traditional tenets of a resurrection of the body at what is termed the 
end of the world — a groundless conceit of the creeds from which his pious mind, 
with all its liberality and acumen, had not yet emancipated itself. The true resur- 
rection is the issuing of the eliminated man of the spirit from its corporeal tenement 
on earth into the world of souls, where it is eternally to abide, and where it at 
once enters into a process of exploration and judgment by which its permanent 
destiny is to be determined. — Ed. 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 127 

who have this faculty of seeing it, see only a few, and by no 
means all — because the whole atmosphere must be filled with 
them — is probably thus, that this germ is much more gross 
and material in one than another. It is not, however, prob- 
able that the departed soul resides in it, but that it clothes 
itself with it, when intending to appear to any one. 

So much appears to me to be evident, that the terrible va- 
por that forms itself into a human figure, produces this figure 
in the brain, because it shows itself long afterward, when look- 
ing at anything black, or closing the eyes ; but it is also equally 
probable that an apparition from the invisible world, or some- 
thing from its confines, mixes with it : because in the church- 
yards, it is not merely one, but several figures, which are visible, 
and it is, once for all, a certain fact, that the resurrection-germs 
(for so I will at present call them) are there, not in imagination, 
but really and essentially. 

It is also remarkable that those fine substances which approach 
near to the world of spirits are prejudicial to health. They 
therefore act like the cherub's circling sword of flame, which 
restrains the presumption of man, and keeps it within due 
bounds. 

All the arts of this description, which are met with in books 
on magic, and occasionally in the writings of ancient authors, 
as also in various individuals of the lower class, such as exor- 
cists, quack-doctors, &c, must always be regarded as relics of 
heathenism ; for traces of things of this nature are to be found 
in both the sacred writings and such as are profane. Magne- 
tism, magic-potions, magical perfumes, and who knows how 
many other different means, which are now lost, were employed 
to develop the faculty of presentiment, to form a connection 
with the invisible world, and to learn things which man in this 
life ought not to know. All the heathen oracles and all their 
pretended wonders sprang from this source. Their enchanters 
and enchantresses were initiated in these mysteries. 

The ancient Israelites had also a strong propensity to such 
like things. The witch of Endor is a proof of this. King Saul 
had sought to exterminate the soothsayers and diviners, which 



128 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

was very proper, and according to the Mosaic law. Some of these 
people, however, still remained concealed ; and as the king had 
lost the Divine favor, and could expect no answer thence, yet was 
anxiously desirous of knowing the result of the war, he sought 
counsel from the enchantress of Endor, who must have been 
renowned in her art. The raising of spirits was therefore a 
matter which was known at that time, but justly prohibited on 
pain of death. 

The enchantress received orders to raise the deceased proph- 
et Samuel, who, with all the rest of the Old-Testament saints, 
abode in hades, in a state of blissful rest, until the Conqueror 
of death conducted them in triumph into the mansions prepared 
for them. 

The woman employed her art ; but instead of one of her 
familiar spirits, that was to have acted the part of Samuel, he 
appeared himself, by the Divine permission and instigation. 
This the witch had not expected ; she therefore cried out for 
fear, and said, "I see Elohim" — something divine. Samuel 
then announced to Saul that, the following day, he would be 
wiih him in the realm of the dead, or of spirits. This story is 
in many respects remarkable, because, on calmly reflecting up- 
on it, it develops many ideas which shed light on this obscure 
subject. 

I have expatiated at length upon the subject of presentiments, 
predictions, and enchantments, or, generally speaking, upon the 
developed faculty of presentiment, because I regarded it as 
highly necessary on account of its important result. This result 
I will now lay down in sincerity, and in the name of the Lord. 
Oh, that I could write it in letters of flame, or sound it in the 
ears of all my contemporaries, that so it might thrill through 
every nerve, for the time is fast approaching when it will be 
needed ! 

Every artificial mode of developing the faculty of presenti- 
ment, and of entering into connection and intercourse wiih the 
world of spirits, every attempt at it is a sin of sorcery, and seri- 
ously and severely forbidden by God. If it come of itself to 
pious and enlightened persons, they must not make much ac- 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 129 

count of it, but rather avoid than seek its consequences ; and 
use it with fear and trembling, and with wisdom, for the good 
of mankind. 

The great events of the present age excite, everywhere, the 
nervous system to anxious expectation of the approaching future. 
Persons of weak nerves, who, by the perusal of the predic- 
tions contained in the Bible, and the explanations given of them, 
presumptuously begin to ruminate upon them with the desire 
of knowing future events, instead of letting themselves be led by 
it to repentance and true conversion, may by this means easily 
develop their faculty of presentiment in a greater or less de- 
gree, according as their corporeal disposition permits. The 
elevation, the exalted feeling, the new discoveries, and the en- 
lightened insight, which accompany it, convince the individual 
that what is passing in him is a very peculiar operation of the 
Holy Spirit ; but believe me, assuredly and confidently, that this 
is not the case. Such a one may certainly say excellent and 
very useful things, and even be the means of really doing good ; 
but, before the man is aware, a false spirit, in the guise of an 
angel of light, mixes itself in the matter, and the poor creature 
is deceived. 

Such persons often predict things to come, which punctually 
take place ; but this is by no means proof of anything divine, 
as is evident from what has been already said. The true spirit 
of prophecy is something very different, as I will now demon- 
strate : — 

My dear readers, all of you ! — The great and general trial, 
or hour of temptation, in which the fidelity of the true worship- 
pers of Christ — that fidelity which endures even unto blood — 
shall be put to the test and stand the trial, is no longer remote. 
By it shall those be made manifest, throughout the Christian 
world, and sealed, who are worthy of the glorious kingdom of 
Jesus Christ, its citizenship, and the first resurrection. 

This great temptation will be twofold. On the one side, 
Satan and his host will strain every nerve to deceive the faith- 
ful adherents of Christ, by strong delusions (2 Thess. ii. 9-12). 
Those serve him as instruments to this end, who, armed with 



130 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

inquisitive presumption, are eager after the knowledge of mys- 
teries, and allow themselves the practice of every kind of art, 
in order to enter into connection with the invisible world. But 
the individuals he finds particularly suitable for his purpose are 
those whose faculty of presentiment is developed, and who mis- 
takenly long after secret gratification. These poor souls are 
the most capable of becoming false prophets, and likewise the 
most capable of deceiving others. 

When they then say unto you, " Here is Christ, or there is 
Christ ; this will take place, or that will happen ; go this way 
or that way ; now is the time to depart out of Babylon, to this 
place or that" — give it no credence : but calmly in the exercise 
of watching and prayer, keep the " one thing needful" in view, 
and continue in true simplicity, and in the pure doctrine of the 
gospel, whatever may befall you. He is mighty in them that 
are weak, and lays no heavier burden upon his faithful ones 
than they are able to bear. In the most distressing seasons, 
you shall experience the greatest joy ! Therefore, be not 
afraid ! 

On the other side, the satanic host, incredible as it may now 
appear, will also employ such lying signs and wonders, for the 
purpose of deceiving the simple, and inducing them to worship 
the Beast. I still remember very well that this had already 
become the subject of conversation in a certain order, and a 
great and extensive association is really rising up again whose 
objects are comprehensive. It is remarkable that even infidel- 
ity begins to think of a connection with the invisible world, 
which it formerly laughed to scorn. " Watch and pray, lest 
ye fall into temptation." — " The spirit is willing, but the flesh 
is weak." 

About twenty years ago, when Mesmer and Gassner began 
their first experiments with magnetism, the idea arose in some 
places, even among pious and upright men, whether the biblical 
wonder-workers, and even Christ himself, had not perhaps made 
use of similar means. Subsequently, when the effects of the fac- 
ulty of presentiment — namely, the prediction of future events 
■—was added to it, the idea was also combined with it whether 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 131 

the prophets had not likewise prophesied by means of a devel- 
oped faculty of presentiment. 

They meant well : for in the former case, they hoped in some 
measure to render assistance to reason with respect to miracles ; 
and in the latter, they were desirous of affording by this means 
a prop to the credibility of biblical prophecy; but may God 
graciously preserve us from such assistance, and from such a 
prop ! No magnetism could restore life to the body of Laza- 
rus, which was already in the first stage of corruption, and just 
as little could magnetized water be made into wine. All the 
wonders which the Bible relates, and which to reason appear 
so incredible, are so to us for this reason — because our ideas 
of matter and of bodies are entirely erroneous. This is not the 
place to elucidate the subject. I will, however, lay down the 
following proposition as an infallible axiom, for the considera- 
tion of the inquirer after truth : — 

Neither matter nor bodies exist out of time and space : ev- 
erything there is realized idea of God ; there the whole crea- 
tion consists entirely of first principles, which every rational, 
thinking being views according to his inward organization. We 
mortals necessarily regard them in time and space, but ought 
not to imagine that they are so in themselves, or that they are 
considered so in the Divine mind, or by other spirits. 

He that maturely weighs this proposition will no longer find 
any difficulty as it respects real miracles ; and he will soon per- 
ceive that none but God alone can work true wonders — that is, 
can change one first principle into another — and that this brings 
no confusion into external nature. I now pass on to the subject 
of prophecies, in order to show how infinitely different they are 
to the effects of the faculty of presentiment. 

We have two revelations of God : the visible creation, and 
the Bible. These two contain, together, all that is necessary 
for us to know for our earthly and eternal welfare. So long as 
any one teaches or prophesies that which is in accordance with 
these Divine revelations, and founded upon them, we may and 
we ought to receive it as Divine truth ; but as soon as the 
teacher affirms that God has revealed it to him, he makes him- 



132 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

self suspected, because God does not repeat again what he has 
once solemnly revealed to man. It is therefore nothing else 
than the enlightening of the Holy Spirit which is granted to the 
preacher, by which he is enabled more clearly to unfold the 
truths he announces, and to present them more impressively to 
view. 

When any one explains biblical prophecies, and shows either 
what is already fulfilled, or must soon be accomplished, but 
speaks positively in the latter case, and even affirms that it has 
been divinely revealed to him, he again makes himself sus- 
pected. 

When any one predicts or prophesies something that stands 
opposed to Divine revelation, and gives it out as Divine truth, 
he is certainly a false prophet ; but if it be not contrary to the 
Holy Scriptures, and yet be not founded in them, it is a new 
doctrine. Now this latter is the principal point to be decided ; 
for none of the former cases are doubtful : every true Christian 
will and must say " Yea and amen" to them. 

When a person, whom we regard as a most religious char- 
acter, tells us something new, that is not opposed to the doc- 
trines of the Holy Scriptures, but which can not be proved 
from them, the question arises, " How are we to act in such a 
case?" 

There are people who are very sincere and pious, but who 
are fond of the extraordinary and marvellous, and have imper- 
ceptibly formed to themselves a favorite system, which they 
endeavor likewise to prove, in their way, from the Bible. Now 
when these persons find an author, or any other individual, who 
pretends to Divine revelations, which are in unison with their 
system, they receive them, without hesitation, as divine, it being 
presupposed that he who prophesies is a true Christian. They 
adduce, as the ground of this belief, that the Holy Spirit, who 
dwells in the true Christian, will not permit him to be deceived 
by false revelations. That this ground of confidence is entirely 
false, is soon and incontestably proved. 

The late Gottfried Arnold, who certainly was a true Chris- 
tian, and an extremely learned and well-read man, had himself 



PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 133 

a strong predilection for the extraordinary and marvellous, as 
all his writings testify :* he therefore furnishes us, in the pres- 
ent case, with the most unexceptionable evidence in favor of 
my proof. In his " History of the Church and Heretics," he 
has introduced, if not all, yet certainly the most remarkable 
individuals, who have prophesied of future events since the 
times of the apostles. Now if we strictly and impartially ex- 
amine all their prophecies, from the date of their promulgation 
to the present time, and compare them with history, we shall 
find that in all of them truth and falsehood are mingled together. 
Some favorite idea shows itself in all these revelations, which, 
with the true, must pass for divine. None of these prophecies 
have been wholly and punctually fulfilled ; some things always, 
but others not at all. We therefore can not and ought not to 
rely upon them ; for we do not know what is true or false of 
that part of them which is still unfulfilled. It is therefore in- 
contestably true that the Holy Spirit has not insured these indi- 
viduals, though certainly pious characters, against deception 
and error.f But this is only natural, for the Holy Spirit teaches 
and enlightens ; he awakens delight in and love to all that is 
good, and an abhorrence of all that is evil, but he does not com- 
pel the free will in the smallest degree. Man continues at lib- 
erty to resist the Holy Spirit, to take fancy for reality, and a 
developed faculty of presentiment for the gift of prophecy. But 
he does not, on this account, forsake the individual, if the latter 
continues sincere, and errs with a real love for the truth. As 
soon, however, as the man makes his error his favorite maxim, 
and article of faith, and his idol, and consequently becomes an 
enthusiast, the Spirit of God gradually departs from him, and 
those that are in this lamentable state then become dangerous 
instruments of Satan and his kingdom. 

* The translator, who has read several of this author's works, can not agree in 
the statement here expressed, as they consist chiefly of translations from the most 
approved writings of the primitive fathers. The work subsequently noticed is the 
only one, as far as the translator's knowledge extends, which is liable to censure on 
this point. 

t " All that we know is in part," said Paul, who certainly had received the Holy 
Spirit. 

12 



134 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

This I affirm, in the name of the Lord, as a truth, in support 
of which I will live and die ; and I assert it, because there 
never was a period, since the creation of the world, in which it 
was so necessary as at present. 

My readers will now probably expect, and that justly, that I 
should show how the true prophet is distinguished from a mere 
prognosticator, and a revelation that is really divine from a de- 
veloped faculty of presentiment. 

When any one, even the most pious of men, affirms that God 
has revealed to him that some particular event will take place, 
or that such and such is the nature of some subject still un- 
known to us, I may not and dare not believe him, merely upon 
his own word, for he may easily be much mistaken. But if I 
regard it as a matter of indifference, which does not concern 
me, while it really is a Divine revelation, I should sin deeply ; 
for how can or ought anything to be indifferent to me, of which 
God causes some one to inform me ? 

What am I, therefore, and what ought I to do 1 

Shall I say : " I do not believe thee 1 Since the times of the 
apostles, there are no more true predictions nor real prophets." 
This would be captious presumption, founded upon nothing, and 
also contrary to the spirit of prophecy, which distinctly states 
that, in the last times, and perhaps ere long, signs, wonders, and 
prophecies, will occur. 

Or shall I believe him on his bare assertion 1 I can not do 
this, because he may be mistaken ; not even when he refers me 
to a vision of angels, though he prove to me that the apparition 
was real, and not a deception — for who will assure me that the 
being who appears is a good spirit, or if he be, that he can 
not err % 

But I must not continue indifferent in the matter. What, 
then, remains for me to do ? The only thing that remains is, 
that the prophet incontestably prove to me that God has sent 
him; he must show me his credentials, and these must con- 
sist in an act which is only possible for God to perform — that 
is, he must do real wonders in the name of Jesus Christ. I 
say real wonders, for there are very many arts and mysteries 






PRESENTIMENTS, ENCHANTMENTS, ETC. 135 

in nature which appear to be real wonders, but are by no means 
so. Only read Eckharlshausen's writings, particularly his ** Key 
to Magic," and the reader will be enabled to defend himself 
against being deceived by false wonders. The miracles of 
Christ, the prophets, and apostles, show what real wonders are, 
and what characteristics they ought to possess. 

We find in the Holy Scriptures, from beginning to end, that 
God endowed all his messengers to man with the gift of work- 
ing miracles, and Christ knew very well that it could not be 
expected that men should believe him and his apostles merely 
upon his word : he therefore confirmed, his doctrine by great 
and remarkable miracles, and his disciples did the same. Mir- 
acles are now no longer necessary for that purpose, and for the 
conformation of what we know, and of what has been revealed 
to us ; but as soon as new revelations are necessary, miracles 
are also necessary. Though an angel were to appear to me, 
or even Christ himself, yet he must satisfactorily prove to me 
that he really is what he pretends to be, because I may be de- 
ceived by false spirits. This precaution in demanding such a 
proof, of which we find remarkable instances in the Bible, God 
has never been offended with : on the contrary, he condescended 
with great forbearance to the requests of those individuals whom 
he designed to use as instruments in the execution of his pur- 
poses. It is here worthy of remark, that the priest Zacharias, 
who did not believe the angel Gabriel upon his word, but de- 
manded a sign, and to whom the sign of dumbness was given, 
received such a strong memento as a reproof. Here all depends 
upon whether Zacharias knew the angel or not. In the former 
case, it was criminal unbelief; in the latter, necessary precau- 
tion, to demand a sign. That he really knew the angel, is be- 
yond a doubt ; for Gabriel certainly did not appear to him in a 
dubious form. 

Finally, we have still to add that the style of the prophets is 
far more definite and sublime than that which predictors gen- 
erally employ. If we read, in the above-mentioned " History 
of the Church and Heretics," the language made use of by those 



136 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

pious individuals that have prophesied, we shall soon perceive 
the great difference that exists. 

When we minutely consider what Moses relates of Balaam, 
it appears more than probable that he prophesied by means of 
a developed faculty of presentiment. His whole conduct shows 
that he was not a real prophet of God, but his history proves 
that he heard Divine words, which is also the case with many 
who prophesy by the means above mentioned. It is remarka- 
ble what is said of him in Numbers xxxiv. 1, which verse, in 
the original sense, is as follows : "And Balaam saw that it was 
good in the sight of Jehovah to bless Israel ; therefore went he 
not, as he was wont to do, to divinations, but," &c. There 
were, therefore, even at that time, institutions where divination 
might be learned, and these were probably nothing else than 
schools, in which was taught the art of developing the faculty 
of presentiment, and of coming into connection with the invisi- 
ble world. 

The way and manner in which Jehovah revealed himself to 
the prophets is not fully known. However, we know so much 
concerning it, as that it took place, at one time, by visions and 
dreams, at another by an outward audible voice, and perhaps 
also by an inward mental communication, and by the ministry 
of angels. But their mission was always accompanied by ex- 
traordinary circumstances, and manifested with much solem- 
nity, and in a manner befitting the Divine Majesty. Their 
prophecies referred chiefly to some very distant period, whither 
no faculty of presentiment could reach. Isaiah prophesied 
above six hundred years before the birth of Christ, and pre- 
dicted his sufferings ; and all the prophets announce, two thou- 
sand five hundred years beforehand, the glorious kingdom of 
peace. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 137 



CHAPTER IV. 

VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 

I come now, finally, to the most important as well as the most 
difficult part of my theory of Pneumatology. The whole sub- 
ject is generally treated as something superstitious and degra- 
ding. It belongs to good-breeding and refinement to smile at 
ghost-stories, and to deny the truth of them, and yet it is curi- 
ous that people are so fond of hearing them told, and that, 
besides this, the incredulous narrator commonly seeks to make 
them as probable as possible. 

Superstition is something mean and contemptible ; and as all 
apparitions of spirits are declared to be superstition, it is there- 
fore natural that people are ashamed of appearances of this 
nature. But here, everything depends upon this, whether all 
the narrations of such appearances be only deception, falsehood, 
and superstition. It is certain that the greatest part of them 
are so; but it is equally certain and true that the souls of de- 
parted men occasionally reappear after death, and show them- 
selves to the living, sometimes for a shorter and at other times 
for a longer period, even for centuries together, desiring some 
service from them. In the following pages I will incontestably 
prove the truth of this assertion. 

If I show the reality of the thing, the proof of the possibility 
of it is unnecessary ; but when we believe anything to be im- 
possible, we doubt every proof of its reality ; therefore, in order 
to obviate this, I have shown in the first two chapters of this 
work, that the common scholastic ideas of human nature are 
totally false, and that it is very possible that a soul divested of 
its body, may again become visible. The question is therefore 
decided, as it regards philosophy ; but not so with respect to 
many of the teachers of religion : for as real apparitions ofde- 

12* 



138 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

parted souls prove to a demonstration, that there is a middle 
place, a realm of the dead (hades), in which those souls are 
detained which are not yet ripe for either of the places of their 
destination, and are there fully prepared for the one or the oth- 
er ; those divines who are desirous of continuing faithful, in this 
instance to the articles of the protestant faith, must either say, 
that the truest narrations of the reappearance of deceased indi- 
viduals are false, or else that they are the hauntings of evil 
spirits. 

To this I reply, that if I state my proof of the truth honestly 
and fully, which I certainly will not fail to do, truth is and con- 
tinues to be truth, and I will show with equal certainty, that 
such appearances are not the hauntings of evil spirits. Nor 
have the Holy Scriptures anything at all to object against my 
theory ; on the contrary, they are in favor of it. Finally, I beg 
the reader to reflect, whether the real apparition of a departed 
spirit, without the co-operation of any one, can be called super- 
stition. Is that superstition, when fully conscious of myself, I 
see an ignis-fatuus, or any other rare natural phenomenon ? 
In the present case it only depends upon the use made of it. I 
shall therefore also show the rational and Christian-like manner, 
in which a person ought to act, in the event of an apparition of 
this nature. 

By the word " vision," I understand an appearance which a 
person sees, without any real object being there : it therefore 
only exists in the imagination, and is consequently a mere dream, 
which is, however, regarded by him that has it, as a reality. 
Yet visions distinguish themselves from common dreams, in this, 
that they are connected and like the reality ; as also, that a per- 
son may have them waking. I request that this definition may 
be always coupled with the word " vision," whenever it appears 
in the sequel. 

From this view of the matter it is clear that a vision signifies 
nothing at all ; for it proves nothing more than a lively imagi- 
nation, and a natural disposition to regard its images as some- 
thing real. Hysterical and hypochondriacal persons are inclined 
to visions. They have them either with or without fits. These 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 139 

kind of people also easily develop their faculty of presentiment, 
so that they easily come into connection with the invisible world. 

Everything is then jumbled together, and much knowledge 
and experience is necessary to distinguish a vision from a real 
apparition. The principle and basis upon which all such inves- 
tigations must be carried on, are as follows : — 

If more than one individual, without previous communica- 
tion, and unexpectedly see an apparition, or if only one person 
sees it, and the rest witness actions which can have no other 
origin than from the apparition, it is then no vision, but the real 
appearing of a spirit. Examples shall fully elucidate and es- 
tablish these propositions. 

About the year 1795, one summer's evening at six o'clock, 
after I had read my last lecture for the day, and re-entered my 
study (it was at Marburg), a student came to me with whom I 
was well acquainted, he being one of my worthiest hearers, and 
is still a most excellent man both as to head and heart. He fills 
at present an important office in the service of an illustrious 
prince. I received him with cordiality, and bade him sit down 
beside me. He then stated to me, that in the year 1755, some- 
thing remarkable had occurred in his family : his father, who 
was then a young man of about twenty years of age, was fre- 
quently visited by a spirit. His grandfather who was a teacher 
of a Latin school, had minutely written down the whole affair, 
and had caused it to be printed, but this was confined to a few 
copies, in order to leave them to his children and grandchildren, 
as an instructive lesson, and a perpetual memorial ; some of his 
nearest relations also received a copy. He now felt in his 
pocket and gave me his to read, after which, he took his leave 
and went away. I read this most remarkable document with 
surprise and astonishment, and then returned it to its possessor 
with thanks. 

However deeply the facts themselves were impressed upon 
my memory, yet there were so many remarkable circumstances 
united with them, which it was impossible for me to recollect, 
that I heartily wished to possess the book myself, or at least, 
that it might be lent to me whenever I should write the present 



140 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

work, for which I have been preparing for many years ; and 
singular enough, when travelling about ten years ago, through 

the province of , I received the book as a present, from a 

near relative of the person who had seen the spirit. It is now 
lying near me on the desk, but I dare not part with it lest the 
name of the family be made public, for this would cause my 
worthy friend, the ci-devant student, much correspondence, ex- 
pense, perhaps other disagreeable results, ridicule, and con- 
tempt, to which I would not even remotely give occasion. But 
if I now make an extract from it in defence of the truth, so that 
I give no names, and relate the matter in such a manner as not 
to compromise the worthy family, I hope that it will not be ta- 
ken amiss. The numerous persons who know it already, will 
soon perceive to what it refers. The title of this remarkable 
book is as follows : — 

" A true Narrative of a Spirit, which frequently appeared to 

of , at stated times, from the 1st of January to the 

30th of April, 1755 ; circumstantially described by his father in 
the month of May, 1755, and privately published in the month 
of April, 1759." 

On the reverse of the titlepage, stands the following motto : 
u This shall be written for the succeeding generation, and the 
people that shall be created shall praise the Lord." (Ps. cii. 19.) 

Then follows the contents of the book itself, above which 
stands the words il In nomine Jesu Salvatoris" (in the name of 
Jesus the Savior). The father's narrative then commences : — 

In the beginning of the year 1755, his son dreamed every 
night, that a little man dressed in a blue coat and brown waist- 
coat, with a whip hanging at his girdle, after previously knock- 
ing at his room-door, entered, wished him good morning, and 

said, " I have something to tell thee ; go down to the berg, 

and under a tree near the meadow, thou wilt find upon 

and near a stone, thirteen kreutzer, which take and secure 
them ; then dig a little, and thou wilt find much money." 
He then constantly saw in his dream, the place, and the tree 
where the money was to be found, and the money itself as it 
appeared in part above the ground. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 141 

The worthy youth awoke every time in great terror, and re- 
lated his dream. Both father and son regarded it as natural, 
and yet very remarkable, and mentioned it to some intimate 
friends. 

Some nights after this, the spirit again appeared to the son 
in a dream, and repeated the above expressions, at the same 
time reproaching him for having divulged the affair, and showed 
him the figures of two men, whom he knew, who the spirit as- 
serted had already gone to the place to seek the money, but that 
they would not obtain it. 

From this time, the son saw the spirit likewise when awake, 
hence it was concluded, that it was not a mere dream, but a real 
apparition. This terrified the good people much, particu- 
larly as the spirit came every night, and the son awoke at each 
knocking. This occurred two or three times every night, and 
the entreaty to fetch the money was repeated every time. But 
the longer and more frequently this demand was made, the more 
the youth was alarmed, and declared that he would not go to 
the place and fetch the money, on any account. The spirit, in 
order to divest him of all suspicion, and to encourage him, made 
use of the first words of the twenty-third verse, of the eleventh 
chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, " I have received 
of the Lord, that which I have declared unto you," and then 
recommended him when he went down to fetch the money, to 
sing the hymn which begins thus : — 

" Who Jesus loves, and trusts in God 
His blessing shall enjoy," &c. 

The son never being able, in consequence of the great trepi- 
dation he felt, to speak a word with the spirit, both father and 
son determined to question him in writing, upon several points. 
On the 14th of January the son wrote down these questions, 
and laid them upon the table in his bedroom. As soon as the 
spirit came the following night, he immediately observed them, 
and answered them clearly and distinctly. Here follow the 
questions and answers, word for word. 



142 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

JESUS. 

Listen, O Spirit ! I ask thee in the name of Jesus. 

1. Who art thou 1 

Ans.- I am of this place, and have buried the money with five 
others ; these five are now at rest, but I am not. I died in . 

2. Why art thou so disturbed, and why dost thou disturb me 
also? 

Ans. Why am I so disturbed ? I have already said, that it is 
the money we buried which disturbs me, nor can I rest till thou 
fetch it. I disturb thee, it is true ; but thou canst immediately 
help thyself, by going and fetching the money. 

3. If thou art a good spirit and standest in need of assistance, 
I would gladly help thee with all my heart, were it in my weak 
ability and power to do so ; but as I can not, I ask thee in the 
name of Jesus, if I can not let another person do that which 
thou desirest of me ? 

Ans. Assuredly I am a good spirit, and in answer to thy ques- 
tion, no one can deliver me but thou. I have already waited 
for thee one hundred and twenty years, but if thou wilt not help 
me, I must suffer and be troubled another one hundred and 
twenty years. I beseech thee, help me ! Thou mayest take 
people with thee when thou goest down, but they must not go 
with thee so far as to see the place, until thou hast found the 
money ; they may then help thee to carry it home. Thou canst 
not carry it alone, and they may in the meantime pray for thee. 
Be not, however, afraid, whatever dreadful and horrible things 
may appear to thee there. I will myself accompany thee, and 
assist thee in everything. 

Notwithstanding all this, the son found it utterly impossible 
to go alone to the fearful spot ; and on the whole, both the pa- 
rents and the son hesitated much in the matter, for they were 
afraid of doing something wrong. They were, therefore, unan- 
imous in again writing down some questions, in order to lay 
them before the spirit the following night. This was done as 
follows : — 

JESUS. 

Listen, O Spirit! I ask thee further, in the name of Jesus. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 143 

1. Whether I can not go in company with some others, to the 
place thou hast pointed out, where the money lies, without hear- 
ing or seeing something dreadful ? 

Ans. Thou mayest do so ; thou wilt neither hear nor see any- 
thing; but what will that avail thee or me ] Rather go down 
alone with me, and then I am free. 

2. Why can not I help thee when some one is with me ] I 
will take with me none but pious people, whom thou mayest 
select for me. 

Ans. Thou must go thither alone, for thou alone art nomina- 
ted to deliver me. Others can not help either thee or me. 

3. Shall I not advise with some pious person or minister in 
this affair, because I can scarcely yet believe that thou art a 
good spirit 1 Our Savior has redeemed all men : art thou, then, 
excluded ? And how should I be able to redeem thee ? Jesus 
has suffered for all. 

Ans. No, thou hast no need to do so, for they will all seek to 
set thee against it. Doubt not that I am a good spirit. It is 
true the Savior has redeemed me also; but 'tis thou must de- 
liver me from this place — to this thou art appointed. Do not 
let me suffer another hundred and twenty years ! 

4. If it must be so, have I not still some time and space 
for it ! 

Ans. Thou hast still some time for it ; but, till then, thou and 
I will have no rest. I beg of thee to fetch the money. 

On this, the spirit observed that he had still one hundred and 
twenty days allowed, within which time the money must be 
fetched. 

Notwithstanding all this, the father and son were still in 
doubt whether the spirit was a good or an evil being ; and as 
they sat together on Saturday evening, the ISth of January, at 
ten o'clock, and spoke about the spirit, the father considered 
whether evil spirits could name the name of Jesus, because the 
spirit named him ; and now remembered that the spirits whom 
Christ cast out, often called upon him by this name — when he 
observed that his son turned pale, was terrified, and said, " Fa- 
ther, pray !" The father complied with this request, calling 



144 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

often upon the name of Jesus, and hoped by this means to ban- 
ish the spirit ; but the latter looked him in the face, and said, 
" I like also to hear the name of Jesus, but, because you are at 
present so much afraid, I will go away again" — on which he 
departed. 

The following Sunday morning, the father's brother came to 
visit these distressed people in their secret and heavy affliction. 
While they were sitting together, all at once the son was un- 
able to speak, and laid his head upon the table, from which they 
perceived that the spirit was again present. They therefore 
began to sing, " Begone, ye imps of hell ! ye here have naught 
to do." The spirit sang these words with them, with a loud 
voice, and then vanished. 

On Monday, the 20th of January, the spirit again appeared 
at eight o'clock in the morning, in the sitting-room ; and as, 
toward ten, the father's brother was about to go, and father and 
son were accompanying him to the door, the spirit came up the 
stairs. The son again grew faint, and was obliged to be taken 
back into the room ; the spirit, however, said, " Thou canst now 
accompany thy uncle, and fetch the money at the same time." 
That day the spirit was extremely urgent. 

On Tuesday, the 21st of January, at eight o'clock in the 
morning, he came into the schoolroom, and the poor ghost-seer 
escaped into an adjoining apartment. The spirit followed him, 
wrung his hands, and prayed three times the following words : 
" Lord God, thou art merciful, and thy goodness endureth for 
ever. Ah, why dost thou let me suffer so long!" He then 
departed. 

At ten o'clock he returned, but not in his former dress, but 
as a figure entirely white, and said to the son : " I have now 
besought thy assistance for twenty days together ; do resolve 
and help me ! I will now leave thee for twenty days. If thou 
wilt go down in the meantime, and fetch the money, thou mayest 
do so. It would be a great relief to me if I could always stay 
with thee, but now I must go, and have not a moment more 
time. In twenty days, that is, on the tenth of February, I will 
again be with thee at this hour." 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 145 

The spirit kept his word : he again appeared in a white form, 
gently repeated his request, accompanied the son wherever he 
went, except that he did not speak in the presence of strangers, 
and was glad that he might again be with him. 

At ten o'clock in the evening of Tuesday, the 11th of Feb- 
ruary, the spirit came again into the sitting-room, and brought 
with him another little spirit, about the size of a child of four 
or five years old, of a radiant figure, which he led by the hand. 
The little spirit said nothing, but sang the Te Deum Laudamus 
(" We praise thee, O God !") so charmingly and beautifully, 
that the son called to all present to listen, believing that the 
whole company must have heard the singing. Hitherto, the 
father had always assured the spirit that he would never permit 
his son to fetch the money alone. The spirit now informed 
them that he had obtained permission for the father to accom- 
pany the son, only he must remain two paces distant from the 
place, and this must be done, without fail, on the following 
Wednesday, the 12th of February, at twelve o'clock at noon; 
that the little spirit would likewise be present, and that they 
ought not to be at all afraid. 

This intelligence alarmed the family still more. The father 
prayed incessantly to God for deliverance, preservation, and 
assistance, through this trial, and experienced inward consola- 
tions and gracious assurances in his devotions. The resolution 
remained firm not to grant the spirit's request. 

The dreadful Wednesday, and the appointed hour, arrived. 
The father was sitting below at table with a friend, when he 
was called up to his son, whom he found deadly faint. All fell 
on their knees and prayed, for they believed he would die ; but 
he recovered again, and told them that the spirit had come to 
him in great wrath, because they would not fetch the money; 
had pressed him on the heart, and said, " Now I will make an 
end of thee !" He then said, soon after, that the little spirit 
was there, and stroked him, upon which he perfectly recovered. 
The little spirit then sang, in presence of the other, the hymn — 
" God, the Father, dwell with us !" &c. Now as the son was 
much distressed, and could not bear to stay in the house for 

13 



146 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

trepidation, a walk was undertaken to the adjoining village, in 
the company of several friends ; but the spirit appeared here 
also, two several times — once on the way, and the second 
time at the parsonage, where he stood in the porch as they 
came up. 

The spirit becoming more and more urgent and menacing, 
both father and son determined (the latter being still unable to 
speak with the spirit) to write down some additional questions, 
and to lay them before this terrific being. The questions and 
answers follow here verbatim : — 

In yesterday's gospel, we are told how our Lord confuted 
the tempter by the word of God : following his example, I say 
unto thee, and ask thee in writing, because I am never able to 
speak to thee verbally. 

Ans. I am no tempter. Nevertheless, I am glad to hear the 
word of God ; and it is thine own fault that thou art unable to 
speak to me. 

1. It is written, " Try the spirits,, whether they be of God." 
That thou art a good spirit, I at length allow; but thy troubled 
state proves that thou art not a happy spirit : besides which, I 
can not and dare not believe that what thou desirest is from 
God. 

Ans. I am well aware that thy parents doubt my being a 
good spirit : but thou seest that I honor and love the word of 
God, and have the hope of salvation. Nor is my torment any 
infernal torment, but a purification sent me from God, because, 
at my decease, I was too much attached to riches, from which 
thou must deliver me. 

2. It is written, " My sheep hear my voice, and they follow 
me ; but the voice of a stranger will they not hear nor follow." 
In accordance with this, I must follow the voice of my Savior, 
and am directed not to listen to any spirit ; for thou art a stran- 
ger to me, and one whom I know not, nor dare I follow. 

Ans. Thou must by all means follow thy Savior and mine, 
and obey his voice : but God has also other ways, besides his 
word, of revealing those things which are not matters of faith, 
as is very often the case in dreams. Thou art no stranger to 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 147 

me, but of my kindred in the seventh degree. My native land 
is Saxony. 

3. It is written, " Children, be obedient to your parents in 
the Lord." Now if thou seek to render me disobedient, thou 
art not on God's side. Thou knowest very well that my pa- 
rents will not permit me to consent to thy wishes : why art thou 
constantly urging me to do thy will, contrary to their will 1 Ar- 
range it with them. 

Ans. Certainly thou must obey thy parents in all things that 
are not contrary to God ; nor will I incite thee to disobey them : 
but, because they reject my request, thou mightest in this case 
find means of fetching the money without their knowledge, 
which, when once done, all will be right. I am not referred to 
them, but to thee, and therefore also I have been obliged to wait 
for thee till thou wast twenty years of age. 

4. It is written, " He that rushes into danger shall perish 
therein, and the end of the foolhardy is evil." Why should I 
have anything to do with spirits and devils, or hazard both body 
and soul 1 And who can assure me that, if I fetch away the 
money, nothing dangerous shall occur to me, in either body, 
soul, or mind — seeing that the Wicked One is with the money, 
and guards it, and, as thou hast thyself said, will cause frightful 
things to be seen % 

Ans. This saying is certainly true ; but observe, " He that 
rashly and daringly rushes into danger, shall perish in it:" but 
this is not the case with thee. It is true that the devil and his 
angels will be busy on the occasion ; but it is equally certain 
that they can not injure thee till thou hast got the money, and 
therefore thou hast no need to fear. 

5. It is written, " No man can redeem his brother." How, 
then, should I be able to do so, and deliver thee ? In Jesus 
there is everlasting redemption ; he can help thee without ref- 
erence to this money, and bring thee to rest. 

Ans. Most assuredly is this saying true, and it would be wrong 
to say that thou couldst redeem me. The Savior redeems thee, 
and me, and all men ; but yet, in the affair of this money, thou 
must act as a redeemer by superior permission, and terminate 



148 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

my torment, which otherwise will not end, although thou dost 
not comprehend it. 

6. It is written, " Our Lord Jesus threatened not when he 
suffered, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." 
Wherefore, then, in opposition to this, dost thou plague me for 
not complying with thy wishes ? 

Ans. This is certainly true, and it is unwillingly that I 
trouble thee, but my distress and necessity compel me to it ; 
thy obstinacy is to blame. 

The spirit, in answering the second question, having men- 
tioned that the son was no stranger to him, but related to him 
in the seventh degree by lineal descent, the father looked over 

his genealogical table, and found that a certain Lawrence , 

a miner of , on the borders of Saxony, was his son's pro- 
genitor in the seventh degree ; but as this Lawrence was mar- 
ried in the year 1566, while the spirit asserted that he had 
been one hundred and twenty years in that state, and conse- 
quently (on subtracting 120 from 1755) must have died in the 
year 1635, the father found the matter doubtful ; because the 
said Lawrence must, in that case, have lived in the marriage 
state from 1566 to 1635, consequently sixty-nine years, which 
appeared to him incredible : however, the spirit appeared, 
again the same day, the 18th of February, at three o'clock in 
the afternoon, and said, " You have been searching, on my 

account, in the family genealogy : I am not, however, , 

but his own brother, and a son of Gregory , minister of 

; my father died early, and when my brother was mar- 
ried, I was four years old and went to school with my broth- 
er's sons. During the disturbances in Bohemia, I came hither 

to , where I married a widow. I was not a farmer, but a 

tradesman. 

The son, becoming seriously indisposed in consequence of 
all this agitation and these trying words, endeavored to make a 

change, and therefore went to . On passing the place 

where the money was said to be deposited, he saw a black 
man and a dog upon it ; and although there was snow every- 
where else, yet this place was green. The spirit again pre- 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 149 

sented himself, and harassed him with his temptations. On 
returning, he found everything just as before, and when the 
spirit left him, he heard hehind him a piteous and lamentable 
cry. 

The daily and nightly appearing of the spirit still continued, 
and his requests to fetch the money became more and more 
urgent ; but this being flatly refused him, he was irritated and 
desired to speak with the father ; but this the latter scrupled 
to do, and refused his request. The spirit, however, fixed a 
day for the interview, namely, twenty days later — on Saturday, 
the 1st of March, at eight in the evening, or on Sunday, the 
2d, between eight and nine in the morning — asserting that 
nothing should happen to the father, but that he must be earn- 
est in prayer at parting. The father, however, utterly rejected 
the interview. At every visit, the spirit showed great devo- 
tion during singing, praying, and reading. 

The father was once reading the eighth chapter of the Epis- 
tle to the Romans, and, on the spirit appearing, the father said, 
" If thou wilt, thou mayest remain here and listen." The spirit 
answered that he was glad to be told to stay. He then placed 
himself immediately behind the table near the son, and when, 
in the course of reading, the father came to the words, " We 
are saved by hope," &c, he clapped his hands together for joy, 
and said, "O yes, yes, saved by hope !" 

It is also worthy of remark, that the spirit emitted fire from 
every finger, when he became angry on account of the son's 
obstinacy. He often said that if any one wished to see him, 
he might ; but the individual would afterward repent of it. On 
the father's once saying that it was impossible he could be a 
good spirit, because he harassed his son in such a manner, he 
said in great anger, " Soon, soon, soon, shall you experience 
that I am a good and not an evil spirit, but to your detriment." 
The father commended himself and his household to God, and 
nothing prejudicial ensued. 

From the 2d to the 22d of March, the spirit continued to 
appear; but during that period he said nothing, nor did he 
give any answer to questions that were put to him, either ver- 

13* 



150 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

bally or in writing, yet he scarcely ever left the son. During 
the succeeding twenty days he did not come at all, except on 
the 2d of April, when the following circumstance occurred : 
The father and son went to the field belonging to the school, 
where the money was ; as the latter was now no more afraid, 
because the spirit stayed away, they both went to the place, 
but neither saw nor heard anything. As soon as they had left 
the place, the spirit appeared ; he was much irritated, and 
asked why he was so simple as to go down then, when his 
father was with him, and so many people in the field 1 he only 
increased his torment by it : he had often told him that he must 
go thither alone, and he must now stay there till the father 
was gone and every one was at home. 

On this the son grew very faint. He also saw the black man 
and the dog again. Much affrighted, he exclaimed, " O father, 
we must now go home !" his terror was so great that even the 
father began to be afraid. With much trouble, they at length 
reached their habitation. 

The last twenty days of the hundred and twenty still re- 
mained, and of these the good people were much afraid ; for 
they were apprehensive that the spirit would now exert him- 
self to the utmost to attain his object. Fear urged them to 
persevering and earnest prayer, and this tranquillized them, 
particularly as the father received singular consolation in his 
dreams. 

On the 10th of April, at eight in the evening, the spirit again 
appeared, though no longer in white, but in his former costume. 
His address to the son was, " Thy obstinacy is the cause why 
I am obliged again to appear thus." He then also gave them 
to understand that the son could no longer fetch the money as 
formerly, at any time, but only every twentieth hour. He 
then movingly begged for help, as only a short time longer was 
allowed him. 

After this the spirit appeared still three several times, but 
only every twentieth hour — say, on the 11th of April, at four 
in the morning, the following night at twelve, and on the even- 
ing of the 12th at eight o'clock. In the two apparitions on the 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 151 

11th of April, he said to the son that he had formerly written 
down something for him to answer, but now he dare not reply 
to any more questions. With this exception he spoke very 
little, but only moaned pitifully and threw his hands up and 
down, which again emitted fire, and the sorrowful scene was 
repeated so often that the son heard the piteous moaning night 
and day. The whole family were much alarmed on the occa- 
sion, so that the father at length determined to prepare some- 
thing in writing and lay it before the spirit. Therefore, on 
the 12th of April, at eight in the evening, when the spirit stood 
at the room-door and gradually entered the room, the father 
read to him what follows : — 

" In the name of Jesus, I assure thee, poor spirit — 

" 1. That thy mournful condition much affects me and my 
family,, and it grieves us that we are not able to help thee. 

" 2. That it is by no means obstinacy on the part of my son 
that he has hitherto not complied with thy request, seeing that 
his weakness and inability must be well known to thee ; be- 
cause, although he may become accustomed to the sight of thee, 
yet he has never been able to speak to thee ; but every time 
thou hast appeared, he has either sat or laid as if he were in a fit. 

" 3. Thou art well aware that, not long since, we went to 
the place in the valley; and thou knowest how terrified, and 
horror-struck, and utterly devoid of strength, he then became, 
and though he only saw the demons at a distance, yet he was 
so agitated at the sight that he was obliged to retire to the hill 
in the wood : how, then, should he be able to go down among 
the devils themselves 1 

" 4. Thou hast said, yesterday, that if he would not help 
thee, he would have neither happiness nor salvation all his life 
long. I should be glad to know if thou hast this from God or 
from Satan % 

" 5. Alas, we are unwilling to let thee depart without help ; 
yet what shall we do, or how begin to help thee ? If thou 
canst, give us an answer, and inform us what we wish to know. 

" I commend thee to the mercy of God, the redemption of 
the Lord Jesus, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Amen I" 



152 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

My little book now grows so remarkable, that I must insert 
the most important passages in the father's own words. He 
says : — 

"During and after the reading of the above, the spirit said 
to my son, ' I will find and point thee out a hymn ; pray and 
sing it diligently.' On which he took down from the shelf my 
son's pocket-bible, to which a small hymn-book is attached, 
drew it out of the case, and found the hymn which begins, 
' Have mercy, gracious God,' &c, and pointed out to him with 
his finger the third verse, ' From guilt of blood deliver me,' 
&c, then folded down the page and laid the bible in its place 
again, on which he went away, saying, ' Now I shall be absent 
for some time.' 

" My son immediately informed us what the spirit had done 
with the bible, and supposed that we had also seen the occur- 
rence. He requested that the bible might be directly handed 
down, because when the spirit drew it from its case, a smoke 
appeared from it ; and on taking it down, we found, to our 
astonishment, that on both sides of the binding toward the top, 
where the spirit had laid hold of it and drawn it out of the 
case, the leather was shrivelled up and burned, and on opening 
the book we immediatly saw the hymn ' Have mercy, gracious 
God,' &c, folded down. On the left side, where he had held 
the bible with the left hand with one finger and the thumb, the 
leather was also shrivelled and burned on the back, where the 
finger had been placed ; while in the inside, where it had been 
held by the thumb, two leaves were singed and burned black 
completely through, and the five leaves next them partially so ; 
and where he had pointed with his finger to the verse ' From 
guilt of blood deliver me,' &c, the finger-mark was likewise 
black and singed ; from which burned places it is evident that 
the fingers are not fleshy, but formed like those of a skeleton : 
of which this awful memorial affords ocular demonstration, in 
the little hymn-book attached to this bible, which was printed 
in 12mo at Wittenberg, anno 1696, and bound in calf with gilt 
edges. On this account, also, the said bible shall be preserved 
as a continual remembrance and a wonder." 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 153 

Such has also been the case : the family is still in possession 
of this most remarkable bible, and many credible persons have 
seen it, and may still see it. 

This incident caused the whole household the greatest amaze- 
ment, consternation, and astonishment ; and, as they knew not 
what might further take place, it was resolved to consult with a 
pious minister in the neighborhood. The father therefore went 
to him, on Monday, the 14th of April, and related to him the 
whole affair, under condition of the greatest secrecy. The wor- 
thy man was equally surprised and astonished, and confessed 
the matter was of too much importance for him to advise in, 
but referred him to the late Dr. Spener's " Theological Reflec- 
tions," in which he also treats of apparitions of spirits. He 
promised likewise to consider upon it himself, and then to com- 
municate his sentiments to him. The point to be decided con- 
sisted principally in this : whether the request of the spirit, with 
regard to singing and praying the hymn so dreadfully marked 
("Have mercy, gracious God!" &c), could with a good con- 
science be complied with. 

In Spener's " Last Theological Reflections," volume i., there 
is a whole section on apparitions, and also the following pas- 
sage, which is decisive with respect to the present case : — 

" Wherefore I consider that, in this case, the surest way is, 
that until, from one source or other, satisfactory convictions 
ensue, not to be too hasty in forming a judgment, but also that 
the person conduct himself throughout in the whole affair so 
that, on the one hand, if God intend anything by it, he may not 
be found resisting him, nor entirely disregarding anything to 
which the spirit may admonish him, nor neglect on this account 
what is otherwise known to be the Divine will. On the other 
hand, if it were the work of Satan, desirous of playing his tricks 
under such a disguise, he must not give way to his will in the 
least, but cleave firmly to the word of God alone, and unceas- 
ingly call upon God to assure him of his will, that he may nut 
be deceived," <Scc. 

In conformity with the counsel of this enlightened theologian, 
the hymn was not only sung by the family morning and even- 



154 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

ing without scruple, but the son also prayed and sang it fre- 
quently, as the spirit requested. 

A few days after, the written opinion, promised by the pious 
minister above mentioned, was also received, consisting sum- 
marily in the eight following points : — 

"1. It is a sacred truth that there are good and evil angels, 
and that both the one and the other can manifest themselves. 

" 2. Wicked angels can not appear without the Divine permis- 
sion, and the good will not without the permission and will of God. 
" 3. Good angels, on appearing, can do nothing contrary to 
God, and wicked angels nothing for God, his glory, and the 
real welfare of man. 

" 4. The ministry of good angels, with respect to man, must 
not refer to anything, either directly or indirectly, which is con- 
trary to Divine revelation in the Holy Scriptures. 

" 5. A good spirit or angel, for the same reason, can not desire 
of, or do to us, anything which is contrary to charity. 

" 6. Therefore, when a spirit, though appearing in the form 
of an angel of light, desires anything contrary to the love of our 
neighbor, it can not be regarded as a good angel or spirit. 

" 7. It is contrary to charity to desire anything of a man and 
a Christian which he can not do with a good conscience. 

" 8. Now, as the spirit that appears, does and desires this, and 
even uses threats, and afflicts the body, he must by no means 
be listened to, but rejected as a tempter to evil. 

" Therefore, I conclude that those to whom, in the sacred 
and salutary counsels of God, such apparitions and temptations 
have mediate or immediate reference and concern, should let 
thern act as a continual incitement to all fidelity and renewed 
zeal in religion, and to watching and conflict, according to Ephe- 
sians v. 10, for their own good, and at the same time for the 
praise of God and the glorification of Jesus Christ in themselves 
and others, by a right improvement of such an event, accord- 
ing to the measure of Christian wisdom and prudence. May 
God overrule the present visitation to this blessed end, for 
Christ's sake ! Yea, he will do it, for he is faithful. 1 Cor. 
x. 13." 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 155 

This opinion, as well as the one above of Spener's, had the 
effect of causing both father and son to resolve still more firmly 
to act wilh great circumspection. They therefore continued in 
prayer and thanksgiving for the gracious protection they had 
hitherto enjoyed, and trusted steadfastly in the Lord that he 
would also further protect them. 

The succeeding pages of the book are so important, that I 
deem it necessary to insert them here verbatim : — 

" But as nothing was seen or heard of the spirit from the 12th 
of April above mentioned during the remainder of the month, 
we returned thanks for this season of tranquillity, and imagined 
the spirit would perhaps stay away altogether. However, the 
last day and hour of the hundred and twenty days allotted to 
him had not yet arrived, for which time we waited, though con- 
stantly between hope and fear. 

" That day, which was the 30th of April, and the Wednesday 
before St. Philip and St. James, at length arrived ; and when 
it was about eight o'clock in the evening, the spirit suddenly 
and unexpectedly entered the room, but not in his first or sec- 
ond form, but in one much whiter and brighter. He evidenced 
great pleasure and satisfaction, thanked my son for having hith- 
erto sung and prayed the appointed hymn (for so he termed it), 
and informed him that, in consequence of this, he had been 
really redeemed and entirely delivered from the place and the 
money, although he had not yet completely attained unto rest, 
which he however still hoped for — assuring him, at the same 
time, that he (my son) must and ought to have the money, which 
was deposited at the place he mentioned, and that he would 
certainly obtain it, in a wonderful and incomprehensible man- 
ner ; but when this would take place he was ignorant, and it 
might perhaps be a long time first. 

" On this, the spirit desired that my son should kneel down 
with him and pray. He did so, and the spirit then recited to 
my son a pietty long prayer, consisting chiefly of scripture 
phrases, which he prayed aloud after, and therefore with, the 
spirit ; and it is particularly remarkable that, previously, when- 
ever the spirit appeared, although my son distinctly heard, un- 



156 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

derstood, and retained, everything the spirit said, yet he was 
never able to speak with him : but this time he continued stand- 
ing, and was able to speak and pray aloud with him without 
becoming faint. It is only to be lamented that this time, in 
consequence of our great consternation, the prayer itself, in all 
its length, was not properly apprehended and retained, but its 
contents were summarily as follows : — 

" ' Holy, gracious, and merciful God ! mighty in counsel, and 
wonderful in working ! All things are possible with thee ; thy 
power is great, and thy judgments are unsearchable ; unto thee 
belongeth praise, and honor, and thanksgiving, and glory. Thou 
humblest and thou exaltest ; thou succorest in time of need, thou 
deliverest from destruction, and redeemest from death ; thou 
castest down into the jaws of hell, and bringest us up again ; thou 
redeemest from blood-guiltiness, and forgivest iniquity, trans- 
gression, and sin ; thou manifestest unto me thy grace and 
mercy ; thou settest a golden crown upon my head ; thou placest 
me at thy table, where the snow-white holy angels sit, and caus- 
est me to see thy goodness that endureth for ever, through the 
merits and redemption of Jesus Christ. Holy, holy, holy, is the 
Lord God of Sabaoth ; and let all the earth be filled with his 
glory ! Amen. The love and mercy of God, the grace of Jesus 
Christ, and the fellowship and comfort of the Holy Spirit, be 
with us now and evermore ! Amen.' 

" After finishing this prayer, the spirit said to my son, ' Now 
reach me something, that I may give thee my hand/ presenting 
at the same time his flat hand. My son mentioned this to me, 
on which I reached him my pocket-handkerchief to give him, 
but the spirit said, 'Not that, but something from thee;' on 
which my son drew his own handkerchief from his pocket, and 
laid it upon the spirit's hand, which, however, we saw fall im- 
mediately to the ground, and lay there. After this, the spirit 
cautioned my son against mentioning this affair to any one who 
would not believe it, assuring him at the same time that he 
would no longer have any more such aversion to the place, and 
then expressed the following wish : ' May God preserve thee 
and all my relatives from such a life, that brings after it such 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 157 

like trouble and torment !' His last words were, ' I now take 
my leave of thee — thou wilt never see me more !' 

11 On this, the handkerchief, which was of linen, and striped 
with blue and white, was taken up from the floor and inspected. 
And here we again saw, with astonishment, that almost in the 
centre, where the spirit had taken hold of it, the five fingers of 
a hand were burnt in, so that the first and middle fingers were, 
in part, burnt entirely through, but the thumb and the two 
other fingers were burnt black and singed — which handker- 
chief, thus dreadfully marked, together with the bible, shall be 
laid up, with this narrative, for an everlasting memorial to pos- 
terity." 

This handkerchief was sent round among friends and ac- 
quaintances in the district of , who saw and examined it 

with wonder and astonishment, and have since related it to me 
and testified of the truth of this affair. The father continues : 

" And thus hath it pleased the Lord, in his mercy, again to 
remove this affliction, which, in his holy will and counsel, had 
impended over us during one hundred and twenty days, and 
hath permitted us to see the end of it, in a wonderful way and 
manner, &c. 

" But in order that the pious preacher above mentioned, to 
whom I revealed this affair, and whom I consulted regarding it, 
as well as my present children and brethren, may read this nar- 
rative in its connection, and praise the Lord with us; in order 
also that my descendants at some future period, may learn and 
know for their spiritual benefit, what remarkable things have 
happened to their forefathers, and who it was to whom a spirit 
appeared, which had quitted the body one hundred and twenty 
years before, I have transcribed this narrative by the hand of 
my son, as the affair really happened, whereby I have to state, 
why it is not drawn up by the individual chiefly concerned — 
that is, by my son himself — is, that I immediately noted down 
in my diary every circumstance which occurred at each appari- 
tion, because my son, during the whole affair, was generally ill 
and sickly, and tender-sighted from seeing the spirit, and there- 
fore the narrative is of my own drawing up. However, all that 

14 



158 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

is stated above is known to my family, as well as to my son and 
myself; but, that my descendants may be firmly assured of its 
credibility and truth, it is attested and confirmed below by my- 
self and my said son, as the principal person in the affair, with 
our own hands and seals. 

" Done at , an evangelical Lutheran town, in the district 

of , not far from , and situated between and , 

the 16th of May, 1755. 

« (l. s .) , 

" (L. S.) . 

" i Temporary Administrator to the Imperial Commission of Liquidation in 
, Baronial Clerk of the Peace, and Schoolmaster of this place. 

" ' I hereby testify, that the narrative of the apparition is true 
with respect to each and every circumstance, as my father wrote 
it down from my mouth, and as transcribed by my own hand, 
and that what is comprised in the foregoing sixteen pages, is the 
truth and nothing but the truth, in defence of which I am ready 
to live and die. In testimony of which, I herewith set my hand 
and seal, 

" ' The 16th May, 1755, 

" * (l. s.) 



In conclusion, there follows an addition to this tale of the 
spirit, which is likewise edited by the father, and equally sol- 
emnly attested by both father and son. It is to the following 
effect : — 

" In the preceding narrative, mention is made of a beautiful 
and radiant little spirit, having shown itself three times in the 
company of the greater one. This little spirit still continued 
to appear every twentieth day, but without saying anything. 

" On the 29th of August, 1755, at half-past twelve at noon, it 
entered the room-door, went up and down the room, and sang 
the fifth verse of the hymn, « My Jesus I will ne'er forsake,' 
which is as follows : — 

* Nor earth, nor heaven, my soul delight, 
Jesus, I long for, and his light. 
'T is he hath made my peace with God, 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 159 

And shed for me his precious blood. 
He shall my part in judgment take, 
My Jesus I will ne'er forsake !' 

" After this, he turned to my son, and said to him, ' Fear not, 
thou knowest me already. I shall now leave thee for one hun- 
dred and twenty days; be upon thy guard !' and with that he 
vanished. 

11 The last words, ■ Be upon thy guard !' again perplexed the 
good people. The son composed a prayer with reference to 
this circumstance, which he devoutly offered up, morning and 
evening. Once he had a frightful dream, in which an angel 
brought him a great treasure, but which Satan took away again ; 
then Death came also, and said, ' I come at God's com- 
mand/ &c. 

* At length the appointed hundred and twentieth day arrived, 
this was the 27th of December, at the beginning of it at twelve 
o'clock 'at night, the little spirit again appeared, and sang the 
following words out of the hymn, ' Now, Lord, unfold the gates 
of heaven !' — 

4 Enough have I striven 
And suffered below ; 
And now to my mansion 
In heaven I go. 
Most gladly rejecting and leaving behind, 
Whatever its solace on eavth would find.' 

" After singing this, he turned to my son and said : ' See, I am 
come again to thee ; fear not ; for now thine affliction is at an 
end : and if thou continue in the fear of God, thou hast nothino- 
but comfort to hope for. I shall not remain long with thee, but 
depart from thee for a time and times. But as I always remem- 
ber thee, so do thou also think of God and me.' 

" He then sang the above words once more, and vanished."* 
This extremely remarkable history, I have preferred to many 
other narratives of this kind, because it is beyond all doubt per- 
fectly true ; and that it is so, may be shown in a twofold man- 
ner ; for first, if it were entirely a fabrication, I can not imagine 
a more daring and impious piece of knavery than this; besides 
* See Note 9. 



160 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

which, the whole family at the time when the book was printed, 
would have contradicted the lie. To this must be added, that 
the whole narrative or the manner of its composition, is deci- 
dedly the reverse of fiction. And secondly, if it were main- 
tained that the young man had merely seen a vision, and that 
they were only delusions of the imagination, the singed Bible 
and the burned handkerchief contradict such an assertion, for 
both these are really in existence, and may be seen by any one. 
I therefore most justly conclude, that this apparition is a real 
and undoubted fact ; and if it be so, what may we learn from it 1 
To this inquiry I will endeavor to give a satisfactory answer. 

The first thing that strikes our observation in the story is, that 
the son alone, and no one else, saw the spirit. This proves my 
theory of the development of the faculty of presentiment. The 
spirit for secret reasons, was not in a situation to show himself 
openly, on which subject he explained himself, saying, that 
though he could show himself to the father and converse with 
him, yet the latter would repent of it; he therefore employed 
the young man, in whom he found a tendency to develop the 
faculty of presentiment : this development, therefore, he grad- 
ually effected by working upon his imagination during sleep, 
in which all the senses are at rest, presenting before it his fig- 
ure, and impressing upon it so often until it adhered to it, and 
the spirit was then able by it to make himself visible to him, act 
further upon his inward senses and converse with him. In a 
word, the seer became to a certain degree, a somnambulist, and 
stood in rapport with the spirit ; the latter then communicated 
his thoughts through the oracular organ : just as we hear any 
one speak when dreaming, which can not be heard by another 
person though present at the time ; while the spirit, who had 
no longer any organization for the visible or material world, 
read everything that passes in the soul of the seer. Thus what 
the father said, the spirit saw or heard in the son's faculty of 
perception, even as a magnetized person when in a high degree 
of clear-sightedness, distinctly perceives the thoughts and reflec- 
tions of the individual with whom he stands in rapport; but if 
the latter desire to read in the soul of the magnetized person, 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 161 

he must be placed in the same situation, and become somnam- 
bulist, or what is the same thing, his faculty of presentiment 
must be developed. From the experiments which have been 
made with magnetism, we are in a situation to explain what is 
otherwise incomprehensible in the apparitions of spirits. 

But now as to the object which the spirit had in view. How 
dreadful ! he cleaves for the space of one hundred and twenty- 
years to the money that can no longer be of any use to him ! 
How truly is the saying verified here, " Where your treasure is, 
there your heart is also ;" and the thought that this wealth 
ought again to belong to the rightful heir, torments him like a 
fury ; particularly, because being dead to the material world, 
he lived in the spiritual world, and therefore according to the 
common course of nature, was unable to satisfy his desire, or 
reveal it to any living person. At length he found one of his 
descendants who possessed the physical disposition, so that he 
could work upon him and develop his faculty of presentiment ; 
this he probably learned from some one lately dead, who knew 
the young man. 

But still we must not believe that the whole affair was right 
and proper, or according to the will of God. By no means ; 
for the spirit attained to rest without the removal of the mon- 
ey. He was mistaken in believing that he should find repose, 
after having handed over his money to the right individual, he 
procured his rest much rather by turning to his Redeemer, and 
by mortifying his attachment to earthly things ; and this at 
length took place, on the father and son being firm in their res- 
olution not to fetch the money on any account. 

The determination of these two pious persons is very remark- 
able ; and many, on reading this narrative, will have considered 
and been astonished why they did not comply with the spirit's 
wishes, for apparently they related to nothing improper. But 
Providence ruled over them, and the terror of the son, united 
with his speechlessness, was certainly the work of a superior 
power ; for by this they were chiefly deterred from fulfilling 
the will of the spirit : for, supposing they had done as he de- 
sired them, they would most probably have found nothing, for 

14* 



162 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

what the son saw upon the place was a mere illusion, which 
the spirit himself produced there in accordance with the 
prevailing superstitious ideas, which he had taken with him 
from his earthly life into the other world, namely, that evil 
spirits kept watch over hidden treasure : which ideas he also 
imparted to the imagination of the seer, so that the latter neces- 
sarily believed, likewise, that he really saw evil spirits in the 
shapes of a negro and a hound. 

Authentic instances are known to me of ghost-seers having 
been led into subterranean vaults, where they saw immense 
treasures, surrounded by guardian spirits, who, from attach- 
ment to earthly things, had created these illusions and regarded 
them as something substantial, while in reality there was noth- 
ing at all there. Hence, it is evident that departed souls have 
a creative faculty, so that they can make their productions vis- 
ible to themselves and others. By reflecting further on this 
faculty in good and evil spirits, astonishing discoveries may be 
made. 

Now, supposing that the father and son had complied with 
the spirit's request ; that the son had gone and dug up the illu- 
sion, and dragged it home, where he would assuredly have 
found nothing but raw and crude earth : what would have be- 
come of the spirit ? He would either have believed that the 
son was not worthy of the treasure, and have still continued to 
imagine himself in possession of it as before, and have tor- 
mented himself in the same manner, or he would have found 
that the money was lost, and that it would therefore never come 
to the rightful heir, by which his sufferings would have become 
still greater and more permanent. 

But I will also suppose the case, that the money had not 
been fetched away by those that helped to bury it, but that it 
was in reality still there : the spirit would then certainly have 
become more tranquil, and perhaps more luminous — because 
the radiance of spirits is in proportion to their temper of 
mind — but yet he would not, by this, have advanced one step 
higher, for his attachment to the money would have remained, 
and he would then have always been anxious about its being 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 163 

well and usefully applied. In short, it was necessary that he 
should entirely mortify his attachment to this mammon. 

But how could the spirit read the written interrogatories? 
I answer, just as a somnambulist reads what is laid upon the 
pit of his heart (or as the Lyonese lady, when standing in rap- 
port with other persons, who held the written document in 
their hands), and knows its contents. 

When the spirit was angry or much grieved, and when, con- 
sequently, some particular passion was predominant in him, 
sparks were emitted from his finger-ends. This remarkable 
fact proves my theory of the soul's luminous body; the spirit 
is inseparably united with this ethereal covering, which sub- 
stance acts upon us at one time as light, at another as elec- 
tricity, or as galvanism, and as magnetism, according as it is 
modified by circumstances. From the present observations it 
is evident that the offensive passions make the spirit's body 
electric and inflame it. Now, if we imagine to ourselves the 
evil spirits in their anger, rage, and despair, the fire of hell is 
no longer a mere imagination — no longer an oriental meta- 

o O o 

phor — but truth and reality. 

When a departed spirit is tranquil in its mind, its touch is 
felt to be like the softness of a cool air — exactly as when the 
electric fluid is poured upon any particular part of the body. 
The spirit's body is therefore entirely in the power of the 
mind, and it forms itself inwardly and outwardly according to 
the imagination and the inward propensities. What horrible 
caricatures and monsters must therefore be produced by those 
who are so entirely under the dominion of their evil passions ! 
If anger, lust, envy, selfishness, and the like, deform, in the 
present state, even our material bodies, how much more that 
refined substance, which assumes every form in a moment ! 
But let us now also represent to ourselves a soul that is recon- 
ciled with God, thoroughly sanctified and blessed with the 
exalted peace of God ; must it not, after death, attain to the 
highest ideal of human beauty? 

It must seem singular to many that this spirit appeared so 
completely in his former customary dress, so that he did not 



164 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

even forget his horsewhip, but had it hung about him, because 
he had probably dealt in horses or other cattle. I know of a 
spirit having appeared, on whom the little brass shoe-buckles 
were perfectly cognizable. If we thoroughly consider the 
subject, w 7 e shall find all this quite natural : the spirit assumes 
the form which its imagination gives it, and the latter figures 
to itself that which has made the greatest impression upon it. 
The generality of spirits, however, appear in their shrouds. 
No spirit will give itself a more wicked form than corresponds 
to what is within ; and, were it hypocritically to assume a bet- 
ter, other spirits would soon unmask it, nor dare it appear in 
such a form in any of their societies. 

But from the ghost-story now under consideration, the well- 
founded supposition may be drawn, that the souls of departed 
persons change their form at every gradation of ascent or 
descent ; so that in the former case they become more beauti- 
ful and radiant, but in the latter more hateful and darker. 
The spirit in question may have been a good, honest, upright 
member of society, of which there are millions ; but he had 
not taken the true path from darkness to light, or real conver- 
sion and sanctification, through the plan of redemption by 
Jesus Christ. He possessed the literal knowledge of his age ; 
he knew the hymns in his former hymnbook ; but more than 
this he had not learned during one hundred and twenty years. 
He was therefore, with the exception of the long and dreadful 
period of his sufferings, still in the same state in which he died ; 
consequently, he retained also the same costume. But when 
he was at length delivered from his affliction, he immediately 
assumed a more glorious form, although he was still far from 
being ripe for real blessedness ; for the singeing and burning of 
the bible and handkerchief appear to me to be a proof that his 
mind was still very passionately disposed ; and he continued to 
foster his fixed idea, that the son should at length obtain pos- 
session of the treasure. 

With what kind of spirits this pitiable being had associated 
during this long period, the narrative does not mention. From 
other occurrences of this nature, it is ascertained that imme- 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 165 

diately after the departure of a human soul from this life, angels 
join it, to conduct it to celestial bliss. If it bring with it 
earthly-mindedness, favorite propensities, and passions, so that 
it is still incapable of the felicity of heaven, the angels endeavor 
to instruct it better : but this is generally rejected there, in the 
same manner as when pious preachers and spiritual guides 
admonish the worldly-minded here. 

The society of the angels becomes burdensome to the soul : 
it avoids them and seeks its like, with whom it can converse on 
that to which it is most attached. Hence, societies arise as of 
one sentiment : but as, in the spiritual world, everything is 
utterly wanting that can satisfy the wishes they cherished in 
the material world, their longing grows more and more ardent 
and painful, and their ideas more and more fixed and perma- 
nent, so that dreadfully painful and tedious means are neces- 
sary in order to save the wretched spirit. It is highly probable 
that these societies of spirits are under the superintendence of 
some other spirit, whom they can endure and are pleased with ; 
for, even here, the liberty of man remains untouched. But 
this superintendent is also a member of these societies, and is 
still in error ; consequently, those spirits that are subordinate 
to him, while obeying him, are not free from error. 

This supposition appears to me demonstrable from the cir- 
cumstance of the spirit always betraying a dependence upon 
other beings — being at one time obliged to depart; at another, 
allowed to return. It is also singular that every period men- 
tioned has twenty for its definite number : thus, six times twen- 
ty make one hundred and twenty years ; and then we have also 
twenty and one hundred and twenty days. We are ignorant 
if this mode of calculating time belong to the mysteries of the 
spiritual world, or whether it be founded in the superstitious 
ideas of those to whom the spirit was subordinate ; it is how- 
ever certain that his spiritual directors erred in commanding 
and permitting him to seek assistance, in such a manner, from 
his descendants, who were still upon earth. This back-road is 
never the proper one ; I am willing, however, to make an ex- 
ception, when a spirit is able, by so doing, to atone, or make 



166 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

reparation, as much as possible, for the offences he had com- 
mitted, such as murder, thefts, debts, &c. ; but even here I will 
not speak decisively, it being far better that this take place on 
this side the grave. 

But that the spirit and his superiors erred, is evident from 
this, that he was translated a degree higher — not by the pre- 
scribed and appointed method of obtaining possession of the 
treasure, but rather by the reverse. It was very fortunate that 
the spirit met with pious people, in whom he confided ; other- 
wise he would have become still more unhappy. Both father 
and son conducted themselves excellently, and in a truly Chris- 
tian-like and exemplary manner. They are now both of them 
in a better world, and doubtless rejoice at having thus nobly 
endured the trial. Yet there must certainly have been a good 
spirit, who was also active in the affair, who produced such a 
degree of terror in the son, and bound his tongue when the 
spirit was present ; perhaps without this the good people might 
still have let themselves be deceived through ignorance. 

But that our great Redeemer has made, even in the other 
world, though concealed from us, most wise arrangements, by 
which souls may still be saved and conducted to the light, though 
they will never attain to that blessedness which is prepared for 
those whose sanctification is perfected here, seems to be certain. 
" The sin against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven, either 
in this world or the next," consequently sins are also forgiven 
in the next world ! — but wo unto him that postpones it till then, 
for his presumption approaches near to the sin against the Holy 
Ghost ! 

But the soul that will not conform itself to the means thus 
provided, and, on the contrary, increasingly strengthens its pro- 
pensities and its passions, continues falling into worse company, 
of a similar character to itself, until it reaches its boundary in 
hell! 

Forty years ago, I was acquainted with a very pious and 
enlightened tradesman, whose deep views and truly holy char- 
acter I have often admired. I learned much from him, and he 
told me many things beforehand which were afterward fulfilled. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 167 

I visited him during his last illness, and witnessed his happy 
end. 

This friend had a modest, quiet, and reserved journeyman, 
with whom, on account of his knowledge and good conduct, he 
lived on a confidential footing. Both conversed frequently upon 
the state of the soul after death, and likewise, in particular, upon 
the restitution of all things. The journeyman by degrees be- 
came consumptive, but my friend kept him with him, even in 
this state, and accompanied him, as it were, to the gates of 
death. During the whole period of his illness, the above con- 
versation was continued, and my friend ventured to request the 
journeyman to appear to him after his decease, if possible, and 
inform him of his state, and also respecting the restitution of all 
things. This the journeyman engaged to do, if permitted. 

The young man died soon after, and his master then waited 
for his visit, and for news from the other world. About three 
weeks after the decease of the journeyman, as his master, one 
evening about ten o'clock, after undressing himself in his bed- 
room, had just stepped into bed, and was still sitting up in it, 
he observed on the opposite wall a bluish radiance, that formed 
itself to a human figure — on which he fearlessly asked, " Is it 
thou, Johannes ?" The spirit audibly answered, " Yes." He 
inquired further, how it fared with him. The spirit replied 
that he was in a tranquil state, in a desert and gloomy region, 
but that his fate was not yet decided. Then followed the ques- 
tion respecting the restitution of all things ; but to this the 
spirit gave no other answer than the following lines from an old 
hymn : — 

"Here let us all the Lord entreat, 
And fall before his mercy-seat : 
Before our Maker let us bow !" 

The word " here" is the principal point. It is here that we 
must and that we ought to arrange our affairs with our merci- 
ful Savior, and, as my late uncle, John Stilling, once said — 

II Take care to be among the first that cross the stream of Jor- 
dan I" 

My friend was bold enough to request another visit, which 



168 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

also ensued, some time after, but it was terrible. I could never 
learn the particulars of it ; but it had such an effect, that the 
worthy man warned every one against such temerity, and was 
now convinced that we ought by no means to seek intercourse 
with the spiritual world on this side the grave, but avoid it as 
much as possible. 

The generality of apparitions, if not all, are deviations from 
the Divine order, and consequently sinful. We ought not to 
wish for, much less occasion them. The fate of our departed 
friends must remain a secret to us, as well as the maxims of 
Divine government, according to which it acts in the other 
world. Let us content ourselves till we have passed the bourne, 
with that which the Bible and unsought experience has revealed 
concerning it, and what we may still learn without presumptu- 
ous investigation. 

The surest mode of teaching is by example. I will relate 
some additional authentic apparitions, in which spirits have 
either announced their decease to their departed friends, or 
have had something else to communicate. In order to adhere, 
in the closest manner, to the truth, I insert my authorities word 
for word. The following anecdote was penned down with the 
greatest possible care, after being previously narrated by the 
under-mentioned imperial privy-counsellor, Von Seckendorf : 

King Frederick William L, of Prussia, the father of Freder- 
ick II., stood in such a friendly connection with Augustus II., 
of Poland, that, if possible, they saw one another at least once 
a year. This was also the case a short time before the death 
of the latter, who appeared at the time to be in tolerable health, 
except that he had rather a serious inflammation in one of his 
toes. The physicians had therefore strictly warned him against 
any excess in the use of wine, &c. ; and the king of Prussia, 
who was aware of this, gave orders to his field-marshal, Von 
Grumbkow, who was to accompany the king to the borders, 
and to entertain him there at one of the royal residences ac- 
cording to his rank, that, at the parting dinner, he was care- 
fully to avoid everything by which that moderation in the use 
of wine, which the physicians, for the above reason, had so 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 109 

strongly recommended to the Polish monarch, might be ex- 
ceeded. 

But on the king's desiring to have a few more bottles of 
champagne, to make a finish, as it were, G-rumbkow, who was 
himself fond of this wine, consented, and drank so much of it 
for his own share, that, in passing over a courtyard of the royal 
villa to his quarters, he broke a rib against the pole of a car- 
riage, and was therefore obliged, the next morning, to be car- 
ried in a sedan to King Augustus, as the latter intended to 
pursue his journey very early, and had still some commissions 
to give him for the Prussian monarch. On this occasion the 
king of Poland was only dressed in a short fur cloak, with the 
exception of a shirt open at the front. 

In this very dress, but with his eyes closed, he appeared on 
the 1st of February, 1733, about three o'clock in the morning, 
to Field-Marshal Von Grumbkow, and said to him, " Mon cher 
Grumbkow, je viens de mourir ce moment a Varsovie !"* 

Grumbkow, the pain of whose broken rib at that time allowed 
him little repose, had observed immediately before, by the light 
of his night-lamp, and through his thin bed-curtains, that the door 
of his ante-room, in which his valet-de-chambre slept, opened ; 
that a long human figure entered, which, having made the tour 
of his bed with a slow and solemn pace, on a sudden opened 
his bed-curtains. There stood the figure of King Augustus, ex- 
actly as the latter had presented himself alive before him, only 
a few days previous, before the astonished Grumbkow ; and, 
after having spoken the words above mentioned, went out of the 
door again. Grumbkow rang the bell, and asked the valet-de- 
chambre, who hastened in at the same door, whether he had not 
seen the person who had just come in and gone out ; but he 
had seen nothing. 

Grumbkow immediately wrote a statement of the whole affair 
to his friend, the imperial embassador and field-marshal, Count 
Von Seckendorf, who was at that time at King Frederick Wil- 
liam's court, and besought him to communicate the matter, in a 
proper manner, to the king on the parade. On the arrival of 
* "My dear Grumbkow, I have just expired at Warsaw !" 

15 



170 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

Grumbkow's note at the embassador Von Seckendorf's, which 
was at five o'clock in the morning, there was no one with him 
but Von Seckendorf, his sister's son, and secretary to the em- 
bassy, afterward minister at the court of Brandenburg- Anspach, 
and finally imperial privy-counsellor. The former said to him, 
while offering him the note to read : " One would think that 
pain had made a visionary of old Grumbkow ; I must, however, 
communicate the contents of this letter to the king, this very 
day." 

Forty-six hours after (if I mistake not), the news arrived at 
Berlin, by the Polish ulans and Prussian hussars, who were sta- 
tioned every ten miles from Warsaw to Berlin, that the king of 
Poland died in the same hour, at Warsaw, that Grumbkow saw 
the apparition.* 

It may also be added, in confirmation of the above, from the 
" History of the Life and Acts of Frederick William I., King of 
Prussia — Hamburgh and Breslau, 1735," p. 454, that the king 
of Poland is also stated there to have died on the 1st of Febru- 
ary, 1733, and that this event was already known in Berlin on 
the 4th. It is also further observed that the king of Poland, in 
his journey backward and forward between Dresden and War- 
saw, took the road from Dresden by way of Crossau to Karga, 
and thence finally to Warsaw ; on which occasion the king of 
Prussia almost always sent General Grumbkow, one of his 
ministers of state, to welcome him there. 

The truth of this tale rests upon the credibility of persons of 
whose integrity and sagacity it would be criminal to doubt : it 
is therefore a certain fact. King Augustus, at the approach of 
death, assuredly deeply regretted that he had so ill followed the 
advice of his physicians at Grumbkow's entertainment. He 
might also, at the same time, deem his host reprehensible for 
not having removed out of the way everything that might be 
injurious to him, and for having complied with his desire for 
champagne, although he knew the sentiments of the physicians, 
and had, besides this, received instructions from the king of 
Prussia carefully to avoid whatever might be pernicious to his 
*See Note 10. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 171 

royal guest. Under the influence of thft deep regret, and with 
this fixed idea, he died. The earnest desire he had to make 
Grumbkow sensible of his error was the reason why he wrought 
upon his imagination, and developed his feeling of presentiment : 
and hence originated the apparition. 

On such an occasion, it must not be supposed that the soul 
of the king had to travel from Warsaw to Crossau ; he that has 
sufficiently apprehended the principles which I laid down at the 
very commencement of this work, will remember that the hu- 
man soul while in the body, is conscious of everything in time 
and space, through the medium of its sensible organs ; but as 
soon as it leaves the body, that which we call space, substance, 
extension, distance, &c, ceases. I wish to be clearly under- 
stood ; the idea the soul has received in this life, of the objects 
of the material world, it possesses and retains ; but is henceforth 
no longer susceptible of these objects, with the exception of 
what it learns from the souls that are continually arriving in the 
spiritual world, or when the unfrequent case occurs, that it en- 
ters into rapport with a person still living, and appears to him. 
I beg also that it may be duly observed, that the soul does not 
change its' nature ; it eternally retains the fundamental princi- 
ples of its powers of thought, namely, time and space, but both 
are then divested of all that is perceptible here ; while on the 
contrary, it becomes susceptible of the objects of the spiritual 
world, but of these also in time and space, for it can not be 
otherwise ; yet with this essential difference, that in time and 
space in the spiritual world, everything is near, and nothing re- 
mote ; it can know what is taking place at a distance, and what 
will take place in future, so far as the laws of the spiritual world 
permit. 

I know that many worthy individuals and persons of religious 
sentiments suppose, that after death we shall study the works 
of creation, travel from star to star, on errauds of high impor- 
tance, and find in so doing, a great part of our felicity ; such 
readers of this work will shake their heads, and be dissatisfied 
with my manner of representing the matter. However, I now 
tell them for their consolation, that I myself have this idea, but 



172 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

believe it will only be realized when the soul is in possession of 
its newly-glorified and immortal body. 

There are several instances, and I myself know of persons 
having seen themselves, and dying shortly afterward. When a 
person sees himself out of himself, while others who are pres- 
ent observe nothing, the apparition may be real, or it may be 
merely imaginary ; but when it is also perceived by others, it is 
no fantasy but something real. 

The following anecdote was related to me by a credible per- 
son, who had heard it stated as a fact by the son of the lady to 

whom it refers. Old Madam Von M was sitting below in her 

parlor, and sent her maid up stairs to her bedroom to fetch some- 
thing. On opening the door, she saw her mistress sitting there 
naturally in her arm-chair, as she had left her below. The 
woman affrighted, ran down stairs and told the lady what she 
had seen. The latter, in order to convince herself of the truth, 
went up stairs herself, and saw herself just as the maid had seen 
her. She died not long after. 

In the fifth article of the second volume of the " Museum of 
Wonders," we read of the following apparition of this nature. 
M. Triplin, one of the government secretaries residing at Wei- 
mar, went up as he was wont to do, to the archives, to seek for 
an act on which much depended, and on account of which he 
was very uneasy. On arriving there, he saw himself sitting up- 
on a chair. Much terrified, he went home and sent a woman- 
servant thither to fetch the documents that were lying on his 
seat. The woman, it is asserted, found him sitting there also, 
and believed he had come there before her some other way. 

In the following leaf, page 390, there is a tale of the same 
kind related, which has also been told me elsewhere. Becker, 
professor of mathematics, and morning preacher at St. James's 
church in Rostock, being in the company of several young 
friends whom he had invited, fell into a theological dispute, by 
maintaining that a certain divine had expressed a particular 
opinion in his work ; but some one denying this, he withdrew, 
and went into his library to fetch the book. Here he saw him- 
self sitting on a chair, at the table where he usually sat. He 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 173 

went nearer, looked over the right shoulder of the person who 
was sitting, and observed lhat this figure of himself pointed with 
one of the fingers of his right hand to a passage in the Bible, 
which lay open before him. He looked, and saw that it was 
these words : " Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die." 
He returned to the company full of astonishment and dismay, 
and related the occurrence ; but although they sought to per- 
suade him to the contrary, and to obviate every prejudicial con- 
struction of the circumstance, he continued firm in the opinion 
that this apparition betokened his death, and accordingly took 
leave of his friends. The day following, at six o'clock in the 
evening, he expired, being advanced in years. 

As it is impossible to explain every appearance of this nature 
by common mechanical laws, recourse is had to some secret 
powers of the soul, still undiscovered, to which effects are as- 
cribed that are still more incomprehensible and incredible than 
the appearance of spirits. In order therefore to avoid admit- 
ting the latter, it is affirmed that Professor Becker died from 
fear, or from the impression which the imagined apparition 
made upon him. 

I am firmly persuaded that no one has ever yet come to his 
death by an impression made upon his imagination ; and that 
all those cases which are adduced in proof of it are only pos- 
sible in two ways, and may be explained by the instance last 
mentioned : — 

1. If the apparition seen by Professor Becker was no reality, 
but the mere effect of his imagination, that apparition was the 
effect of some secret bodily cause of his approaching end, but 
by no means the cause itself. 

2. But if the apparition really was a being from the other 
world, that wished to announce his death to him, and to give 
him to understand that he should prepare for it, the sufficient 
cause of death, therefore, again already existed before he saw 
the apparition, because that was the object of the latter's 
appearing. 

There are certainly instances of people's dying in conse- 
quence of sudden violent emotions of the mind, which over- 

15* 



174 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

powered all the faculties ; but it is going too far to explain all 
such appearances from this circumstance. 

But who, or what was the figure that represented Madam 

Von M in the foregoing anecdote 1 for every one easily 

sees that this was no deception of the imagination, because the 
lady and her servant both saw it. 

According to my theory, it was a being from the world of 
spirits, that, during its life on earth, had been much attached to 

the M family, or the lady herself, and had ascertained her 

approaching decease ; the desire to inform her of this, in order 
that she might be prepared for it, induced it to appear in this 
manner. 

It is certain that our deceased friends are near us, in what- 
ever degree of bliss or misery they may be ; for as there is, 
properly speaking, no such thing as space, because it exists 
only in our ideas, the departed soul is there where the object 
of its love is. But they are not, on this account, sensible of us, 
any more than we are of them ; what they know of us, they 
learn from souls just departed, and also from the arrangements 
concerning us which are made in the spiritual world. Now, 
when a spirit observes that something extraordinary or danger- 
ous is about to happen to some one in the body to whom it is 
much attached, it longs to make it known to him ; the means for 
this purpose are as difficult there as it is here for us to enter 
into rapport with spirits, and perhaps, also, equally contrary to 
the Divine order. The spirit, therefore, makes choice of such 
means as are in its power, as in this instance, where it took the 
form of the beloved individual and placed itself in her seat. 
These self-apparitions are, therefore, a kind of presentiment, 
but without any developed faculty of presentiment, and with- 
out the co-operation of angelic beings. 

The second anecdote, regarding the government-secretary, 
is imperfect ; as we are not told whether he really found the 
documents upon the table, or whether it was a mere illusion, and 
whether he died soon after or not. If the tale be true, it was 
a friendly spirit, who sought to help him out of his dilemma. 

One of the most remarkable warning apparitions is that 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 175 

which had reference to the duke of Buckingham. It is also 
authentic, and no fictitious or embellished story, as I know 
from good authority. I will now insert it literally as it is found 
in the Museum of Wonders, vol. ii., § 2, p. 89. 

The duke of Buckingham was prime minister to Charles I., 
king of England, whose favorite he was ; and, being looked 
upon as the author of the arbitrary acts in which the king 
indulged, he was much hated by the people, and afterward lost 
his life in a violent manner, being stabbed with a knife by 
Lieutenant Felton in the thirty-sixth year of his age. Lord 
Clarendon, in his History of the Rebellion and Civil War in 
England, gives the following account of an apparition which 
preceded the death of the duke of Buckingham : — 

" Among the officers of the wardrobe at Windsor, was a 
man who was universally esteemed for his integrity and pru- 
dence, and who was at that time about fifty years of age. This 
man had been brought up, in his youth, at a college in Paris, 
where George Villiers, the father of the duke of Buckingham, 
was also educated, with whom he formed an intimate friend- 
ship, but had never spoken with him since that period. 

As this keeper of the robes was lying in his bed at Windsor, 
in perfect health, seven months before the murder of the duke, 
there appeared to him at midnight a man of venerable aspect, 
who drew aside the curtains of his bed, and asked him, while 
looking at him steadfastly, if he did not know him. At first he 
made no reply, being half dead through fear. But, on being 
asked the second time whether he did not remember ever to 
have seen him, the recollection of George Villiers, from the 
similarity of features and dress, occurred to him : he therefore 
said he took him for George Villiers. The apparition replied 
that he was v in the right, and begged of him to do him the 
favor to go to his son, the duke of Buckingham, in his name, 
and tell him ' that he must exert himself to make himself pop- 
ular, or at least to soothe the embittered minds of the people, 
otherwise he would not be suffered to live long.' After these 
words, the apparition vanished, and the good man. whether he 
was fully awake or not awake, slept quietly lill morning. 



176 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

" On awaking, he regarded the apparition as a dream, and 
paid no particular attention to it. A night or two afterward, 
the same person appeared again, in the very same place and 
at the same hour, with rather a more serious aspect than the 
first time, and asked him if he had executed the commission 
he had given him. As the apparition knew very well that he 
had not done so, it reproached him very severely, and added 
that it had expected greater compliance from him, and that 
if he would not fulfil its request, he should have no rest, but 
that it would follow him everywhere. 

" The terrified keeper of the robes promised obedience ; but 
in the morning he was still irresolute and knew not what to do. 
He could not bring himself to regard this second apparition, 
which was so clear and obvious, as a dream ; and yet, on the 
other hand, the high rank of the duke, the difficulty of obtain- 
ing admission to his presence, and, above all, the consideration 
how he should make the duke believe the thing, seemed to him 
to defeat the execution of his errand and render it impossible. 

" He was for some days undetermined what he should do : at 
length he took the resolution to be as inactive in the matter as 
before. But a third and more dreadful vision than the two 
former now succeeded ; the apparition reproached him in a 
bitter tone with not fulfilling his promise. The keeper of the 
robes confessed that he had delayed the accomplishment of that 
which had been imposed upon him, on account of the difficulty 
of approaching the duke, as he knew no one through whom he 
could hope to gain admission to him ; and even if he found 
means to obtain an audience, yet the duke would not believe 
that he had received such a commission, he would look upon 
him as insane, or suppose that he sought to deceive him, either 
from personal malice, or from being prompted to it by design- 
ing people. In this manner his ruin would be inevitable. But 
the apparition continued firm to its purpose, and said that he 
should have no rest until he had complied with its desire. It 
also added, that admittance to his son was easy, and that those 
who wished to speak with him need not wait long. In order, 
however, that he might gain credence, it would state to him 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 177 

two or three circumstances, but of which he must mention 
nothing to any one, except to the duke himself, who, upou 
hearing it, would give credit to the rest of his story also. 

" The man now believed himself under the necessity of obey- 
ing this third demand of the apparition, and therefore set off 
the next morning for London; and as he was intimately ac- 
quainted with Sir Ralph Freeman, the master of requests, who 
had married a near relative of the duke's, he waited upon him, 
and besought him to assist him with his influence to obtain an 
audience, having matters of importance to communicate to the 
duke which demanded great privacy, and some time and pa- 
tience. 

" Sir Ralph knew the prudence and modesty of the man, and 
concluded, from what he had heard only in general expressions, 
that something extraordinary was the cause of his journey. He 
therefore promised compliance, and that he would speak with 
the duke on the subject. He seized the first opportunity to 
menlioD to the duke the good character of the man, and his 
wish for an audience, and communicated to him everything he 
knew of the matter. The duke gave him, for answer, that he 
was going early the following day, with the king, to the chase, 
and that his horses would wait for him at 'Lambeth Bridge,' 
where he intended to land, at five in the morning : and if the 
man would attend him there, he might converse with him as 
long as was necessary. 

" Sir Ralph did not fail to conduct the keeper of the robes, at 
the hour appointed, to the place, and introduce him to the duke 
on his landing from the vessel. The duke received him very 
courteously, took him aside, and spoke with him nearly a full 
hour. There was no one at the place but Sir Ralph and the 
duke's servants ; but all of them stood at such a distance, that 
it was impossible for them to hear anything of the conversation, 
although they saw that the duke spoke frequently with much 
emotion. Sir Ralph Freeman, who had his eyes constantly 
fixed upon the duke, observed this still better than the rest ; 
and the keeper of the robes told him, on their return to Lon- 
don, that when the duke heard the particular incidents which 



178 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

he revealed to him, in order to make the rest of his communi- 
cation credible, he changed color, and affirmed that no one but 
the devil could have disclosed this to him, because none but he 
(the duke) and another person knew of it, of whom he was con- 
vinced that she had told it to no one. 

" The duke continued the chase. It was, however, observed 
that he frequently left the company, and appeared sunk in deep 
thought, and took no part in the pleasure. He left the chase 
the same forenoon, alighted at Whitehall, and repaired to his 
mother's apartments, with whom he was closeted for two or 
three hours. Their loud conversation was heard in the adjoin- 
ing apartments ; and when he came out, much disturbance, min- 
gled with anger, was visible in his countenance, which had never 
before been observed after conversing with his mother, for 
whom he always testified the greatest respect. The countess 
was found in tears after the departure of her son, and plunged 
into the deepest grief. So much is known and ascertained, that 
she did not seem surprised when she received the news of the 
assassination of the duke, which followed some months after- 
ward. It would therefore appear that she had previously fore- 
seen it, and that her son had informed her of what the keeper 
of the robes had discovered to him ; nor did she manifest that 
grief in the sequel which she must necessarily have felt at the 
loss of such a beloved son." 

It is privily related that the particular circumstances of which 
the keeper of the robes reminded the duke had reference to a 
forbidden intercourse which he had with one of his very near 
relatives ; and as he had every reason to suppose that the lady 
herself would not speak of it, he thought that, besides herself, 
only the devil could know and say anything of it. 

In the " British Plutarch," additional presages are adduced, 
which are said to have reference to the death of the duke of 
Buckingham ; but these may all have originated in the above 
apparition. 

This remarkable narrative furnishes materials for several im- 
portant remarks : — 

Why did not George Villiers appear to his son himself? 



VISIONS AND APPAKITIONS OF SPIRITS. 170 

Probably because the latter had no natural disposition to the 
development of his faculty of presentiment; the duke would 
perhaps also have regarded the whole affair as a deception of 
the imagination, and have made light of it; but this he could 
not do when his father appeared to his former friend, and re- 
vealed a secret to him which the latter could not possibly have 
known without the intervention of a real apparition ; and sup- 
posing the father had himself told the secret to his son, yet this 
would not have prevented the son from continuing to regard it 
as a play of the imagination, seeing that he knew the secret, 
and that it was present to his mind. 

This narrative is another proof to us that our departed friends 
learn our circumstances and aifairs, take an interest in them, 
and strive to co-operate for our welfare. A beatified spirit, 
that has already attained to the vision of God its Redeemer, 
does not make choice of this retrograde mode of acting, but 
supplicates the favor of its compassionate Savior — that, by his 
all-mediating providence, he would overrule the matter for 
good ; but if a melancholy event can not be prevented, because 
it must operate for the general good, it adores the will of its 
heavenly Father, and is tranquillized : but a soul that, after 
death, still lives in and concerns itself with terrestrial things, 
and would gladly always have a hand in matters, selects such 
illegal means, makes itself visible when it finds opportunity, and 
occasions great perplexity to those to whom it appears. 

It is to be lamented that such extremely interesting events as 
the appearing of spirits should be treated with so much con- 
tempt, and rejected as a subject of disgrace ; and that he, who 
asserts that he has seen anything of the kind, should be laughed 
at, ridiculed, and pitied, as a man of weak intellect. Every- 
thing ought to be candidly and minutely investigated; and, 
though' in a hundred stories of this kind, ninety-nine be found 
deceptions, yet, if the hundredth be true, the spirit that appears 
is our brother, at whose fate we ought not to remain indifferent. 

But then it is also necessary, in such a case, that we should 
know what is our duty ; and to point out this is one of '^p prin- 
cipal objects of this work. 



180 PNEUMATOLOGY. 






Had I been in the place of the keeper of the robes, and was 
at length certain of the real presence of the deceased father of 
the duke, I would have earnestly turned myself to God, have 
humbly sought his protection, and then, in a firm and manly 
manner, have addressed the spirit as follows : — 

" Dear friend, I grieve to see that thou hast not yet attained 
unto rest, and art still not in the right way to arrive thither. 
Remember what thy Redeemer and mine has said : ' They have 
Moses and the prophets ; if they will not hear them, neither 
will they believe though one rose from the dead.' The Lord 
has innumerable ways and means of influencing the heart of 
thy son ; apply to him, beseech him to deliver thy son, and do 
not seek assistance from weak mortals like myself. Tf it can 
be done, consistently with his counsels, he will certainly have 
mercy on him ; but if his death be determined for the general 
good, my mission would also be in vain : and in order to be- 
come the instrument of his deliverance, I must first receive the 
commission from a higher hand. Jesus Christ have mercy on 
thee ! The Lord bless thee, and give thee peace!" In these 
sentiments I would have continued unshaken, and would have 
always acted upon the same principles in the event of future 
apparitions. 

But, in speaking thus, I will not say that the keeper of the 
robes did wrong: he finally followed his conviction; but if he 
had acted according to the above principles, he perhaps would 
have elevated the spirit sensibly higher, as was the case in the 
preceding narrative of the hidden treasure. Experience and 
the word of God are my guaranty that I have judged right in 
this matter. What did the message and warning conveyed by 
the keeper of the robes avail the poor spirit or the duke ? Noth- 
ing whatever ! The duke, whether in jest or in earnest, as- 
cribed the apparition to the devil, and there it rested. As long 
as the mind is not brought to a deep and thorough acquaintance 
with and to a heart-rending conviction of its unspeakably great 
moral depravity, and thus incited by true penitence and sincere 
conversion to hasten to Christ, and with a real and operative 
faith, to seek for peace and the forgiveness of sins in his vicari- 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 181 

ous death, all apparitions and their warnings avail nothing. 
They may arouse the individual, and awaken transient reflec- 
tion, but otherwise they are of no more use than any other ver- 
bal or written admonition, for which purpose we have no need 
of instruments from the other world. 

The following narrative of an apparition was sent me by a 
very pious preacher. I am well acquainted with this truly 
apostolic man, and am sure that he never writes a word of the 
truth of whicn he is not thoroughly convinced. Here follows 
a faithful copy of the statement confided to me : — 

" Copy of a statement given me at my repeated request, 
which I shall destroy after making this duplicate for Mr. Jung, 
aulic counsellor, in order that after my death it may not be 
made a bad use of."* 

" After my marriage, in 1799," writes the wife of the preacher 

at N , " I had two visions, which were inexplicable to me : 

one that was pleasant, and another that was unpleasant. The 
first was as follows : On the 20th of December, of the same 
year, there appeared to me, while I was sitting at my work- 
table, engaged in female employments, a little human figure, 
like a friendly child, clothed in a white robe. I attempted to 
seize it, but it vanished. Some time after, the same figure again 
appeared to me, and I ventured to ask it who it was. The an- 
swer was, ' I died while a child.' 

" Quest. What is thy name 1 

" Ans. Call me Immanuel. 

" From that time, this being appeared to me frequently, al- 
most daily — in the morning at seven, at noon, and in the even- 
ing at six o'clock. Sometimes it approached near me ; at other 
times it hovered in the air in the room, walked up and down, 
and made corporeal movements. 

" It once appeared to me on a journey, several miles distant 
from my residence, and the coach being once in danger of being 
overturned, it held it up by force. Another time, on visiting 
a lady of rank, this being also presented itself. It comes like- 

* I hope to avoid this abuse, by leaving out the names, and whatever else might 
make the matter cognizable. 

16 



182 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

wise when other persons are with me, and speaks to me gener- 
ally in its own language, which, to my own astonishment, I soon 
learned to understand and speak. It sometimes informs me of 
what is about to happen : for instance, it tells me that such a 
friend of mine will soon die; that my mother is ill ; that I shall 

receive a visit to-day from ; that my quality friends are 

unwell, and the like. It also makes itself visible in the night, 
and in the dark, so that I am awakened by it, or hindered from 
sleeping. I urgently requested the little Immanuel to let my 
husband see him, but he refused, and said, ' It would not be 
well to do so,' and that ' he (my husband) would soon leave 
this world if he did.' I asked what was the reason that I alone 
was able and permitted to see him. The reply was, ' There 
are few persons who are destined to see such things.' 

" More than once I saw our churchyard full of human figures, 
who were celebrating a festival, such as that of the birth of our 
Savior, Good Friday, &c. ; and in autumn, one particular hour, 
when Immanuel told me to fall upon my knees, and lay myself 
upon my face. The language of Immanuel, as also that of the 
choral figures, was so soft, that I am unable to describe it. On 
one of these solemn occasions, with the little Immanuel's per- 
mission, I called my husband ; but he saw nothing more than a 
green place, and the churchyard illuminated." 

" So far my wife's account, to which I add — 

" 1. The visits of this being, that calls himself Immanuel, con- 
tinue from one year to another. He appears almost daily, all 
on a sudden, and after staying a short time, vanishes again. 
Once he came at noon, while I was present. My wife gave me 
a hint of his being there, but 1 saw nothing. I observed, how- 
ever, that the table shook at which we were dining, which I 
could not ascribe to any visible power. On asking whence the 

motion proceeded, my wife answered, ' From ; he is under 

' (in a half-whisper). 

"2. Two of our children also saw and remarked this figure. 
The son, a boy about six years of age, saw it soaring up the 
wall on the ceiling, and walking about; and an infant in its 
mother's arms, laughed at and tried to seize the childlike form. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 183 

" 3. I wrote down some expressions in the Roman character, 
of the language in which Immanuel and my wife converse to- 
gether, which she dictated to me ; but have mislaid the note. 
I know not to what extent it is carried, or how far both parties 
are able to express themselves in this language." 

The minister's wife now further states : " It was on the 15th 
of June, in the year 1800, on Saturday forenoon, that I had the 
second apparition while washing myself; some one knocked at 
my room-door, which immediately opened, and a black figure, 
in the form of a man, clothed as a clergyman, his hat under his 
arm, and wearing his own hair, a ruff about his neck, with many 
plaits, according to the ancient mode, went up to my sleeping 
child and looked at it. I ran terrified out of the room, and the 
figure retired through another door, which it closed with such 
violence, that the latch was thrown to a considerable distance. 

" Five years afterward, say in 1805, likewise on a Saturday 
in June, at three o'clock in the afternoon, I observed that some 
one played with the room-door, continually opening and shut- 
ting it. Thinking it was my husband, as I noticed something 
of a black coat, I called out, ' Do come in !' when behold, the 
black clergyman entered ! I ran terrified away, and he threw 
a chair after me that wounded me in the heel. I called my hus- 
band, and went into the room with him; we found the chair 
still lying, but no one there." 

" My wife related some other anecdotes to me, which I pass 
over for brevity's sake, and am, &c. 



" Pastor of , Aug. 21st, 1807." 

This narrative contains several things that afford remarkable 
insight into the spiritual world. That it was no empty vision 
which the minister's wife saw, but in reality a being from the 
invisible world, is certain, because even the children observed 
the little angel. With respect to these, and particularly to the 
infant in arms, there can be no deception. The springing away 
of the latch, the wounding of the lady's heel, and the chair 
thrown upon the floor, are also proofs of the real presence of 
the unhappy spirit of some former clergyman. On the occasion 



184 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

of the extremely remarkable solemnity in the churchyard, the 
minister saw nothing except the churchyard illuminated. I re- 
gret that I do not know whether the churchyard had been illu- 
minated by the inhabitants, or if the light really proceeded from 
spirits; on this point much depends; for the minister saw the 
light also ; this was likewise no empty vision, but a real solem- 
nity. Departed souls, therefore, celebrate the festivals of their 
Redeemer and Savior in hades ! In time they shall see him as 
he is, and celebrate his feasts in his presence. 

On this occasion, I must insert a remark, which I request may 
be taken seriously to heart. Many of my readers dread an 
abode in hades. Dread it not, my friends ! only seek to have 
no occasion to stay there. He that has entirely dedicated him- 
self to the Lord, committed himself wholly to him, and found 
forgiveness of sins in his atoning death, who leaves behind him 
no unexpiated crimes, and possesses no longer any predominant 
earthly passion, no attachment to any sensible object, soars im- 
mediately, on awaking from death, through hades, to the realms 
of light, and to the presence of Jehovah. 

Nor has hades, abstractedly considered, anything in it of a 
painful nature ; but at the same time, it has not the smallest 
thing that can afford delight and enjoyment to the departed spir- 
it, except what the latter brings with it. If the individual have 
left the world while undergoing the process of sanctification, 
and still retains something or other, for which there is no ad- 
mission into the celestial regions, he must remain in hades till all 
this be laid aside ; but he suffers no pain except what he causes 
himself. 

The real torment felt in hades, is the longing after the things 
of this world, from which the soul has parted for ever. Think 
of a man who has lived entirely in sensual lusts and pleasures, 
and has been unacquainted with the superior felicity of those 
spiritual enjoyments, which religion affords : he may have been 
otherwise a good honest citizen, and not a vicious character, but 
dies without a serious and thorough conversion, and without 
having turned with his soul to God. What must he feel in 
that obscure and entirely empty region, which is so utterly 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 185 

destitute of every object which could act upon a single sense 1 
His whole earthly course, with all its gratifications, now pre- 
sents itself in a lively manner to his mind, he remembers every- 
thing he has left behind, much more distinctly than before ; he 
now longs to return whither it is for ever impossible to him. 
He therefore seeks a miserable gratification in his imagination, 
by representing to himself anew, everything that was lovely and 
pleasing to him, and likewise seeks to realize them ; but as the 
materials for this are wanting, the wretched phantoms which 
his imagination forms are merely visionary, and his poverty- 
stricken spirit finds nowhere nourishment. Thus he carries the 
seeds of hell about with him, and everything now depends upon 
what course he adopts. There is no want of good spirits, who 
kindly and charitably instruct him what he has to do, in order 
to become a partaker of celestial blessings ; that is, he must pu- 
rify his imagination from every image, and as they depart, grad- 
ually lose also the love to earthly things. But this is attended 
with much more difficulty there than in this world : here a man 
lives in the full enjoyment of sensible nature; the mortification 
of the things of sense take place by degrees, and while he for- 
sakes the one, he continues to enjoy the other, till this also falls 
away, and he becomes at length indifferent to all things. To 
this, one thing more must be added, which is, that as the man 
dies to the world, his inward spiritual enjoyment increases, and 
this is also strengthened and augmented by the consideration 
of the glorious perfections of God, which are manifested in the 
visible world. In short, this present life is entirely adapted to 
lead back the fallen sinner, in the easiest and most convenient 
manner, to his origin and to bliss. But in hades (where all food 
for the soul is wanting), to be obliged to part with the very last 
poor enjoyment, before the relish for a better can be obtained, 
is dreadful ! and yet this is the only way of arriving at a state 
of blissful rest. He that does not follow this path, but seeks 
to compose his spirit by associating with other spirits like him- 
self, strengthens the phantoms of his imagination more and 
more, and with them, the torment occasioned by his longing al- 
ter this world; which at length awakens in him fury, rage, and 

16* 



186 PNEUMATOLOGY. 






madness, and makes him ripe for hell. Praying for departed 
souls is not to be rejected. But I return to my explication of 
the previous narrative. 

This apparition distinguishes itself from those preceding it, 
in this respect, that neither of the beings from the other world 
had any request to make of the minister's wife ; it therefore ap- 
pears to have had in reality no specific object, and to have ori- 
ginated solely in the lady's developed faculty of presentiment, 
by which she first entered into rapport with the little Imman- 
uel, who seems to be her guardian-angel. She has therefore a 
natural disposition to intercourse with spirits ; but this is always 
a deviation from the laws of nature. She ought not, therefore, to 
attach any value to it ; for if she take a pleasure in it, the faculty 
of presentiment will develop itself still more, she will then come 
into connection with other spirits, and may then be dreadfully 
misled. But though this may not be the case, her health will 
suffer from it, and she will sooner pass into the company of spir- 
its than would have otherwise been her fate. She ought not, 
however, to grieve her little guardian angel, but be kind toward 
him ; nor ought she to avoid his company, but by no means to 
seek it ; endeavoring, at the same time, most earnestly and fer- 
vently, and with constant prayer, to retain the Lord always in 
her recollection, that she may not err in this dangerous path, 
nor shorten her days. I mention these things for the worthy 
lady's instruction, in the Lord's name, and recommend her to 
the protection of our most merciful Redeemer. 

With respect to the deplorable black spirit, he is probably 
one of the present preacher's predecessors, who still seeks 
something there, and is vexed that the preacher's wife is able 
to see him ; or, what is more probable, he seizes the opportu- 
nity to evince his displeasure that no longer he, but another, 
fills the situation. 

Oh, how much is this poor unhappy being to be pitied ! If 
it be possible, O Lord, have mercy on him !* But here I must 
insert a very important warning. Beware of identifying this 

* This black spirit is now removed by the prayers of the minister : he no longer 
appears. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 187 

apparition with any one of the former clergymen ! Judge not, 
my beloved, but judge yourselves. 

What the little angel said to the lady respecting her husband 
is also remarkable, that " if he appeared to him, it might cost 
him his life," and that " there are few persons who are destined 
to see things of this nature." This proves my assertion that 
the development of the faculty of presentiment is dangerous, 
and has an injurious effect on the physical constitution. 

An idea still occurs to me, with respect to the festive figures 
in the churchyard, whether departed souls do not occasionally 
clothe themselves with their resurrection-germs, and are thus 
able to approach nearer to the material world : for there are 
also wandering spirits, which are seen of many, even without a 
development of the faculty of presentiment ; these have most 
probably a more material covering. But as the resurrection- 
germ is concealed from the eye of sense, and as those only see 
it who have a physical ability for it, spirits must therefore be 
able, by means of this resurrection-germ, to attract atmospheric 
particles, and form to themselves an appropriate figure from 
them. 

It is a fixed principle with me not to include any anecdotes 
in this work, of the certainty of which I have no proofs; other- 
wise I could adduce instances in which courageous persons 
have approached black and dangerous spirits, and even gone 
through them ; but they afterward felt the bad effects of it, by 
swellings arising in the skin, and severe illness ensuing. A cer- 
tain watchman, of the name of Osmann, who is said to have for- 
merly lived in Erfurt, is reported to have died in consequence 
of a circumstance of this kind ; and it is affirmed that the mat- 
ter underwent a judicial investigation at the time. Let us be- 
ware of presumption on the one hand, and of timidity on the 
other. The true Christian avoids unnecessary dangers ; in other 
respects he is afraid of nothing: he continues in the path of his 
vocation, and when anything of this nature occurs to him, lie 
examines it with circumspection, and if he finds it to be really 
a spirit, he points it, in the name of Jesus, and with affectionate 
earnestness, to the place whither it belongs. As to the raising 



188 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

of spirits, it is impious and unlawful presumption ; and the con- 
juring and banishing of them, unkind and unchristian.* 

Before I proceed further, I must lay before my readers, and 
explain according to my theory, the well-known story of the 
apparition in Brunswick, because it has reference to a spirit 
that had still something to regulate in this world which hindered 
its progress. There is no doubt of the truth of the narrative : 
I know it from many authentic sources, and insert it here liter- 
ally, as related in the fifth article of the second volume of the 
" Museum of Wonders :" — 

" In the year 1746, there died in Brunswick, shortly after St. 
John's day, a M. Doerien, one of the proctors of the Caroline 
college — a man who had always filled his office with all fidelity 
and watchfulness, and who was distinguished by a soft and even 
temper, and a sincerity both prudent and natural. Immediately 
before his death, he requested that M. Hoefer, another of the 
proctors, and an intimate friend of his, might be sent for, hav- 
ing something necessary to mention to him. The latter, although 
he was already in bed, would not leave his friend's request un- 
fulfilled, and therefore went to him ; but he came too late, the 
patient being already in the agonies of death. 

" After some time, a report was spread, that first one, and 
then another, had seen the apparition of the deceased in the 
college ; but as this intelligence proceeded merely from the 
young people, little attention was paid to it : on the contrary, 
it was declared to be all the result of imagination under the 
influence of fear. At length, an event occurred in the month 
of October, 1746, which induced many to attach importance to 
the tale, instead of rejecting it as totally untrue, as had previ- 
ously been the case. The deceased Doerien appeared to M. 
Hoefer at the hour when, according to custom, he went his 
rounds in the college, between eleven and twelve at night, in 
order to see if his subordinates were in bed, and everything in 
proper order. On coming to the apartment of M. Lampadius, 
he saw the deceased sitting close to it, in his common night- 
gown, and white night-cap, which he held down with his right 
*See Note 11. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 189 

hand, so that only half of his face — say the lower part, from 
the chin to the eyes — could be seen, but this, however, most 
distinctly. This unexpected sight terrified M. Hoefer in some 
degree, but, in the consciousness of being in the path of duty, 
he soon recollected himself, and went into the room. After he 
had found all right, he shut the door after him, and observed 
the phantom he had before seen still fixed in its former position. 
He took courage to go up to it, and held the light directly to 
its face ; but then such a horror came over him, that he could 
scarcely withdraw his hand again, which from that moment 
was so swollen, that some months elapsed before it was healed. 

" The following day he related this singular occurrence to M. 
Oeder, professor of mathematics, who, as a philosopher, would 
not believe the tale, but declared it to be either a trick or a de- 
lusion of the imagination. But in order to ascertain the matter 
more correctly, he offered to accompany M. Hoefer the same 
night — calculating with confidence upon convincing him that 
he had either seen nothing, or that he had suffered himself to 
be deceived by a spectre of flesh and blood. Both went, there- 
fore, between eleven and twelve o'clock, to the place above 
mentioned ; but as soon as they came near the room, Professor 
Oeder exclaimed with a great asseveration, ' There is Doerien 
in reality !' M. Hoefer went silently into the room, and on his 
return the apparition was still sitting in its customary position 
as it had done the night before. They looked at it minutely 
for some time : everything was distinctly visible ; they could 
even clearly distinguish its swarthy beard, yet neither of them 
had the courage to speak to it, or to touch it, but both went 
away fully convinced that they had seen the late proctor Doe- 
rien, who had died some time before. The news of this event 
extended itself more and more, and many persons went to the 
place pointed out to convince themselves of the truth of the 
matter by ocular demonstration — but their attempts were 
fruitless. 

" Professor Oeder himself wished to see the phantom once 
more, for which purpose he frequently went to the place, and 
sought it in every corner, with a firm determination of addres- 



190 PNEUMATOLOGY- 

sing it ; but the trouble he took was not recompensed by any 
result corresponding with his wishes — on which account he 
once expressed himself as follows : ' I have gone after the spirit 
long enough to please him ; if he now wants anything, let him 
come to me.' But what followed % About fourteen days after, 
when he was thinking of anything else than ghosts, he was sud- 
denly and rudely awakened, between three and four o'clock in 
the morning, by some external motion. On opening his eyes, 
he saw an apparition, opposite to the bed, standing by the 
clothes-press, which was only two paces from it, that presented 
itself in the same attire as the spirit. He raised himself up, 
and could then clearly discern the whole face. He fixed his 
eyes steadfastly upon the phantom, until, after a period of eight 
minutes, it became invisible. 

" The next morning, he was again awakened about the same 
time, and saw the same apparition, only with this difference, 
that the door of the press made a creaking noise, just as if 
some one leaned upon it. This time the spirit remained longer, 
so that Professor Oeder spoke to it as follows : ' Get thee hence, 
thou evil spirit ! — what hast thou to do here V At these words, 
the phantom made all kinds of dreadful motions — waved its 
head, its hands, and its feet, in such a manner, that the terrified 
professor began to pray, ' Who trusts in God,' &c, and ' God 
the Father dwell with us,' &c, on which the spirit vanished. 

" After this, Oeder enjoyed eight days of rest and peace, 
during which the spirit did not trouble him ; but when these 
were expired, the apparition again showed itself, at three 
o'clock in the morning, but with this difference, that it came 
from the press directly toward him, and inclined its head over 
him, so that, no longer able to contain himself, he sprang up in 
his bed, and attacked the spirit with violence. The latter re- 
treated to the press, but, scarcely had he laid himself down, 
than the spirit seemed desirous of hazarding another attack, 
and again approached the professor. The latter now observed 
that the ghost had a short tobacco-pipe in its mouth, which, 
perhaps, through fear, he had not previously remarked. This 
circumstance, and the spirit's very mild mien, which seemed 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 191 

more friendly than angry, diminished his terror, and encour- 
aged him to address the spirit as follows : ' Are you still owing 
anything V He knew beforehand that the deceased had left 
some debts, to the amount of a few dollars, which occasioned 
the inquiry. At this question, the spirit retreated some paces 
backward, and lifted itself straight up, just as if desirous of lis- 
tening to some one with attention. He repeated the question 
once more, on which the spirit passed its right hand backward 
and forward over its mouth. The black beard, which Profes- 
sor Oeder could distinctly perceive, caused him to inquire 
whether he had still to pay his barber ; on which the spirit 
slowly shook its head several times. The white tobacco-pipe 
gave rise to a new inquiry : * Are you perhaps owing some- 
thing for tobacco]' Here it retreated, and suddenly disap- 
peared. Professor Oeder mentioned this new occurrence, the 
same day, to Counsellor Erath, who was one of the four trus- 
tees of the college, and in whose house the sister of the deceased 
resided ; and he immediately took measures for the payment of 
the debt. 

" This interview with the spirit having turned out so success- 
fully, Professor Seidler was induced to remain with Oeder the 
following night, as it was conjectured the spirit would appear 
again, which was also the case. At five in the morning, Oeder 
suddenly awoke, and found his uninvited guest, not as formerly, 
at the press, but near it, close to the white wall. It did not, 
however, continue there long, but went up and down the room, 
as if desirous of ascertaining what other person was in the 
bed. At length it approached the bed ; on which Professor 
Oeder jogged his friend Seidler, and said to him, ' Voycz /' 
(look!) The latter immediately collected himself, but saw 
nothing further than something white ; and the moment after, 
Oeder said, ' Now it vanishes.' They conversed a consider- 
able time upon the circumstance, and Oeder was dissatisfied 
that the spirit did not remain longer. He asked Seidler if he 
should cite it ; but to this the latter would not consent ; and as 
Professor Oeder said nothing further, Seidler believed he 
wished to fall asleep again : this Seidler was also willing to do ; 



192 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

when, all at once, Oeder sprang up in the bed, laid about him 
on all sides, and with a dreadful voice exclaimed, ' Thou must 
leave this place — thou hast troubled me long enough! Hast 
thou anything to say to me ? be brief, or give me to understand 
what it is, by some obvious sign, and do not come here again.' 

" Seidler heard all this, but could see nothing. Now, when 
Oeder had in some measure composed himself, Seidler asked 
the cause of his vehemence, and received for answer, that the 
spirit came a second time while they were talking together, 
placed itself, first of all, before the bed, afterward came close 
to it and laid with its whole body upon it. From this time, 
Professor Oeder kept some one with him all night, and burned 
a watch-light also, which he had never done before. The 
effect of this was, that although he saw nothing, yet he was 
almost always awakened, after three or five o'clock, by an 
uncommon sensation, or rather tickling, which sensation he 
asserted he had never felt before. He described it as being 
like the feeling produced when a person is stroked from head 
to foot with a bunch of feathers. He also frequently heard a 
noise at the clothes-press, or a knocking at the room-door. 
But, by degrees, both were discontinued, so that he believed 
himself rid of his guest for the future : he therefore slept again 
alone, and burned a light no longer. 

" Two nights passed quietly over in this manner ; but the 
third night the spectre was again there at the accustomed hour, 
although visibly darker. It had a new sign in its hand, with 
which it made strange motions : it was like a picture, and had 
a hole in the centre, into which the spirit frequently put its 
hand. Oeder had the boldness to say to it, that it ' must ex- 
plain itself more clearly, otherwise he could not guess what 
it would have ; or, if it were unable to do this, it might come 
nearer.' The spirit shook its head at both these requests, and 
vanished. 

" The same scenes occurred several times, even in the pres- 
ence of another proctor of the college. After long ruminating 
and inquiring what the deceased might mean by these signs, so 
much was at length elicited, that a short time before his illness 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 193 

he had taken some paintings in a magic-lantern from a picture- 
dealer, on trial, which had not been returned. The paintings 
were given to the rightful owner, and from that time Oeder 
continued undisturbed. The professor communicated this oc- 
currence with the spirit to the court, and to several learned 
men, such as the then Abbe Jerusalem, Professor Gebauer, in 
Gottingen, and Professor Segner ; and offered to verify his 
testimony upon oath." 

Thus far the narrative, as related in the " Museum of Won- 
ders." Now, can it be imagined that this apparition is also 
supposed to have been a mere deception of the imagination ? 
And yet, such is the case, contrary to conscience, better 
knowledge, and every inward conviction. It is asserted that 
all who saw the apparition, merely imagined they saw it, and 
that the prudent M. Hoefer's arm swelled in consequence of 
this imagination, while guarding himself against deception ; 
that it was a mere delusion of the imagination that caused 
Oeder to guess at the debt due for tobacco, and to take meas- 
ures for the payment, and also, for the same reason, to send 
back the borrowed paintings on glass to the person to whom 
they belonged ! ! ! No, it is impossible that a reasonable man 
can be serious in maintaining such irrational opinions. But 
why do people assert such nonsense 1 The answer is, in order 
to overthrow that dreadful monster superstition — just as if that 
were superstition when a person sees and hears, and is con- 
scious in every sense of some remarkable natural phenomenon, 
rationally examines it, and then draws inferences from it ! 
Tell me, my cotemporaries, if this is superstition ? If it is, 
then all our great physicians, chemists, astronomers, and nat- 
uralists, are very despicable, superstitious people, for they do 
nothing else than act thus. But I know very well where the 
shoe pinches : the just and logical consequences which must 
naturally be deduced from such an apparition constitute the 
superstition which is dreaded ; they undeniably prove the dura- 
tion of our being after death, together with the remembrance 
of the history of our earthly life ; and if to this be added equally 
true and authentic apparitions, demonstrative proofs are soon 

17 



194 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

and easily produced from them of the immortality of the soul, 
of the certainty of rewards and punishments after this life, of 
more elevated powers of being, of the truth of redemption by 
Christ : in a word, of the real, ancient, evangelical Bible reli- 
gion, by which the pseudo-modern Christian, mechanical, and 
philosophical structure, which has been reared by a rationalism 
worn out by luxury and effeminacy, from the wretched stock 
of ideas abstracted from the visible world, is totally thrown 
down and demolished. This is the superstition which is 
dreaded. Hence, an anti- christian spirit has ever been afraid 
of apparitions : in the beginning it made use of them as a bug- 
bear, or abused them by the most shameful superstitions ; and 
now, having branded them with disgrace, it denies them entirely. 
But nothing of all this shall daunt us from searching into and 
examining these very solemn, serious, and wholly incontestable 
evidences for the truth of the Bible and the religion which it 
teaches. 

Doerien, it appears, was a blameless, upright, and honest 
man ; and yet he was not immediately happy after death. We 
will not, on any account, judge uncharitably of him — he may 
have soon afterward entered into the state of bliss — but rather 
examine what led him to show himself in this melancholy 
manner. It is obvious that it arose from small debts and the 
retention of some glass paintings ; but how frequently do such 
matters remain unregulated, without the departed debtor reap- 
pearing on that account and urging the settlement of them 1 
There must, therefore, have been something in Doerien's case 
in addition to this, and I believe I have found it in the two 
unsettled affairs having filled his whole soul in the agonies 
of death ; on which account, probably, he sent to his friend 
Hoefer, that he might request him to arrange these matters ; 
but, in the interval, expired with this desire. The impression 
of it was therefore so strong, that it kept the poor spirit back, 
in this painful situation, at the very entrance, as it were, into 
the spiritual world. 

Hence we see how important it is for the individual to set 
his house in order before he dies ; we ought, therefore, to en- 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 195 

deavor to arrange everything, even temporal matters, before 
we leave the world ; and if we have been unable to do so, or 
have neglected it, it ought no longer to be regarded of such 
importance as to take possession of our minds at the most im- 
portant crisis of our existence. What we can not then alter, 
we should commit, with fervent and humble supplications pro- 
ceeding from a submissive heart, to the all-overruling provi- 
dence of God to regulate, and so preserve our moral character 
for us ; and then lay hold, with firm confidence, on redemption 
through faith in Christ, so that the idea of this may fill our 
whole soul and our whole being ; but let us beware of tranquil- 
lizing and comforting ourselves with whatever good we may 
possibly have done in the course of our lives : if our salvation 
is to be founded upon this, we shall then be brought into judg- 
ment, and our sins placed opposite to these good actions, and 
then the case is dreadful, even as it concerns the best of men. 
Instead of acting thus, we should strip ourselves of everything, 
and cast ourselves, with the feeling and sentiments of the prodi- 
gal son, into the arms of the crucified Savior of all men ; long 
after him with all the powers of our souls ; and beseech him, 
solely through free grace, to receive us into his kingdom, even 
as the thief on the cross did : this desire will then enable us 
rapidly to soar aloft from our mortal remains, and then all idea 
of our reappearing is at an end. 

My dear readers will now also understand that parable of 
our Lord which is found in Matthew, xx. 11-13, where the 
king came in to view his guests, and found one that had not on 
the wedding-garment. This was one of those who thought he 
had a right to appear in his own righteousness, in his wretched 
and filthy garment, at the table where the righteousness of 
Christ is the wedding garment, the only valid uniform. 

The departed spirit of which we are now speaking appeared 
in such a manner as to be seen without the developed organ 
of presentiment ; hence, there were several who saw him : he 
was either still too much of a novice in the world of spirits, so 
that he was ignorant, how a spirit can come into rapport with a 
person still living, or else he found no one that was capable of 



196 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

it. It appears, however, that he made attempts at this devel- 
opment, for he acted upon Hoefer, whose physical nature could 
not endure this influence, for his arm swelled, and he no more 
ventured to come near the spirit. Oeder, it is true, could bear 
this influence better, and he came in some measure into con- 
nection with him, but not so that the spirit could converse 
with him. 

I beg that it may be here observed, that a spirit thus ap- 
pearing can not hear every one speak, for it is destitute of the 
requisite organs : but where it meets with any one whose fac- 
ulty of presentiment may be easily developed, it acts upon him 
by breathing its thoughts into the man's mind, which then com- 
municate themselves to the inward auricular organs ; so that 
the hearer believes he has heard the voice externally. Hence 
it is that a person may converse with a spirit in the presence 
of others, without their hearing the spirit's voice.* All this 
will be sooner or later comprehensible to us, because it will 
then be natural to us. Nor does the spirit hear with its ears 
what those who are present say ; but it reads it in the soul of 
him with whom it is in rapport, just as the magnetized som- 
nambulist reads in the soul of his magnetizer. I beg this may 
be duly observed, and then much that is incomprehensible will 
be explicable. 

In Oeder's case it did not come to this, because either his 
physical nature was difficult to be brought into rapport, or that 
the spirit did not yet rightly understand it. 

The creative faculty of departed spirits is again highly re- 

* Swcdcnborg's account of the process of spiritual speech and hearing is strikingly- 
analogous to this: " The speech of spirits with me was heard and perceived as 
distinctly as the speech of men; nay, when I have discoursed with them while in 
company with men, it was observed, that as I heard the men sonorously, so I heard 
also the spirits ; insomuch that the spirits sometimes wondered that their discourse 
with me was not heard by others; for, as to hearing, there was no difference at all. 
But, as the influx into the internal organs of hearing is different from the influx of 
speech with men, it could be heai-d by none but myself, to whom these organs, by 
the divine mercy of the Lord, were open. Human speech flows in through the 
ear, by an external way, by the medium of the air; whereas the speech of spirits 
does not enter through the ear, nor by the medium of the air, but by an internal 
way, into the same organs of the head or brain : hence the hearing is similar." — 
Arc. CelesVn. 1634-1649. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 197 

markable in this instance. When Doerien could not make 
himself understood by words, he formed a tobacco-pipe in his 
mouth and a magic lantern in his hand. These, it is true, were 
mere shadowy forms, which, however, he rendered visible by 
his imagination and his will. My dear readers, what shall we 
not be able to do, sooner or later, when in the element of 
heaven ! Oh, let us therefore give all diligence, that we may 
be well received there. 

Oeder's conduct toward the spirit was harsh: he reviled it 
as being an evil spirit, although he knew it was the soul of 
Doerien, and laid about him when it approached him. All this 
was certainly the consequence of his terror ; but this, again, 
resulted from a deficiency in his principles. Had I been in his 
place, I would have said : " My dear friend, thou art under a 
mistake. Trouble thyself no longer about anything earthly ; it 
is not worthy of thy attention ; let me take care of that. All 
that thou hast still to arrange, we, thy friends, will examine into 
and then settle in such a manner that every one shall be satis- 
fied with thee : and if there be anything on thy mind for which 
we can not make reparation, apply to thy Savior, who can 
regulate all things ; fix upon him, and upon him alone, all thy 
desires ; in him alone thou wilt find rest ! The Lord bless thee, 
and give thee peace !" 

In this manner I should have acted toward the spirit, and 
am persuaded that, if not at its first appearance, yet finally, it 
would have left me in a glorified state, instead of becoming 
darker. When a spirit approaches so near as to do an injury 
to the body, we must avoid it, direct our minds to God, and 
then say to it in a friendly manner, " In the name of Jesus, I 
forbid thee from touching me." 

I will now lay before my readers another narrative of an ap- 
parition, which had also something to adjust that was unsettled 
in the flesh ; and then treat of those departed souls which are 
doomed, in the unsearchable judgments of God, to continue on 
the borders of this world and the next, as a warning example 
to the living, until their eternal destiny be decided. 

The principality of Saxe-Altenburg was divided, toward the 

17* 



198 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

end of the seventeenth century, into three parts, one of which 
appertains to Gotha, another to Saalfield, and the third, namely, 
Eisenberg, had its own regent — whose family, however, be- 
came extinct with Duke Christian, in the year 1707, on which 
Eisenberg was again added to Gotha. 

This Duke Christian had a very remarkable apparition, not 
long before his death, which has all the testimonies of historical 
authenticity in its favor, and was preserved in one of the Saxon 
archives at least, where it may probably still be found. It forms 
the tenth article in the " Monthly Discourses on the World of 
Spirits," page 319, published at Leipsic, by Samuel Benjamin 
Walther, in 1730. I will insert it here as I find it in the work 
above mentioned, in the style of those times : — 

"About the year 1705, as Christian, duke of Saxe-Eisenberg 
(who died in April, 1707), was reposing upon his couch at noon, 
in his closet, and occupied with a variety of spiritual medi- 
tations, some one knocked at his closet-door. Now, although 
the duke could not comprehend how this could happen, as the 
guard and the other servants were in the ante-chamber, he how- 
ever called out, " Come in !" — on which, a female figure, rep- 
resenting Anna, daughter of one of the electors of Saxony, en- 
tered in an ancient princely attire. When the duke, who had 
raised himself up, and was seized with a slight trepidation, 
asked her what was her pleasure, she answered, ' Be not afraid, 
I am no evil spirit — no harm shall befall thee;' on which the 
duke no longer felt any apprehension, and inquired further who 
she was. She gave him for answer : ' I am one of thy ances- 
tors, and my husband was the same that thou art now. His 
name was John Casimir, duke of Saxe-Cobourg, but we have 
both been dead above a hundred years.' 

" Now when the duke inquired further what she requested 
of him, she expressed herself in the following manner : ■ I have 
a request to make of thee, in my own name, and in that of the 
duke my husband, because we were not reconciled before our 
end, in consequence of a quarrel between us — although we both 
died trusting in the merits of Jesus Christ — and that is, that 
thou effect this reconciliation between us, at this time, which 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 199 

God has appointed for it. With respect to myself, lam already 
in a state of blessedness, but I do not yet enjoy the full vision 
of God, but have been hitherto in a state of silent and agreea- 
ble repose : but the duke, who would not be reconciled to me 
at my death, though he afterward repented of it, and left the 
world in real though weak faith in Jesus Christ, has continued 
hitherto between time and eternity, in cold and - darkness, yet 
not without hope of salvation.' 

" Now when the duke made many objections against this 
proposition, the spirit refuted them, as inappropriate and irrele- 
vant, and said also that, as soon as she entered into the eternal 
world, she ascertained that one of their descendants was des- 
tined to assist them in bringing about a reconciliation, and she 
was the more rejoiced to find that he (the duke) was the instru- 
ment appointed by God for this purpose. Finally, the spirit 
granted the duke a week for reflection, after the lapse of which 
she would again appear at the same hour and await his decis- 
ion — on which she vanished from his sight. 

11 The duke, being on terms of particular intimacy with a 
learned divine — the superintendent Hofkunzen, who resided 
at Torgau, fourteen German miles distant, with whom he was 
wont to correspond, by express, on spiritual, temporal, and even 
political matters — immediately despatched a messenger to him, 
communicating in writing all the particulars of the apparition 
he had seen, and desiring his advice and opinion whether he 
ought to comply with the spirit's request or not. The matter 
appeared to the divine a little suspicious at first, and he was 
inclined to regard it as a dream : but after duly considering the 
singular piety of the prince, his extensive knowledge and expe- 
rience of spiritual things, his tender conscience, and at the same 
time the circumstance of the spirit's showing itself in broad 
daylight, when the sun was shining, he made no scruple of re- 
turningthe following answer to the duke : that, in so far as the 
spirit should not desire of him any superstitious ceremony, or 
such as were contrary to the word of God, and if he (the duke) 
had sufficient courage for such a transaction, he would not advise 
him against fulfilling the spirit's wishes ; yet that he ought to 



200 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

continue in fervent prayer, and, in order to prevent all decep- 
tion, cause the passage to his chamber and closet to be well 
watched by his guards and domestics. 

" In the meantime, the duke gave orders for the ancient rec- 
ords to be searched, and found that all the spirit had said was 
according to truth, so that even the dress of the deceased prin- 
cess and that of the apparition agreed very minutely. Now, 
when the appointed hour approached, the duke laid himself 
upon his couch, after having given strict orders to the guard 
before his chamber not to suffer a single individual to enter : 
and having begun the day with prayer, fasting, and singing, he 
read in the Bible while waiting for the spirit, which made its 
appearance exactly at the same hour as the week before, and 
at length, upon the duke's calling out, ' Come in !' entered the 
closet in its previous costume. It immediately asked the duke 
whether he had resolved on complying with its wishes ; on 
which the latter replied that he would do so, in God's name, in 
so far as what she desired was not contrary to the word of God, 
nor accompanied by anything of a superstitious nature ; she 
need therefore only tell him plainly how he was to act in the 
matter. 

" Upon receiving this declaration, the spirit expressed itself 
to the following effect : ' During my lifetime, the duke, my hus- 
band, suspected me, though groundlessly, of being unfaithful 
to him, because I frequently conversed in private, with a cer- 
tain cavalier, upon religious subjects. On this account, he 
cherished an irreconcilable hatred to me, which was so violent, 
that though I sufficiently proved my innocence, and even en- 
treated a reconciliation on my death-bed, yet he would neither 
abandon his haired and suspicion, nor resolve to come to me. 
Now, having done everything in my power in the matter, al- 
though I died in true faith in my Savior, and likewise entered 
into eternal rest and peace, yet I have not hitherto enjoyed the 
full vision of God. My husband, on the contrary, as mentioned 
above, repented, it is true, after my death, of his implacability 
toward me, and died at length also in true faith ; yet he has 
continued between time and eternity, in distress, and cold, 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 201 

and darkness. But now the time appointed of God is arrived 
for thee to reconcile us, in this world, with each other, and, by 
so doing, aid us in attaining perfect felicity.' 

" ' But what shall I do in the matter, and how shall I act in 
it V asked the duke, and received this answer from the spirit : 

" ■ To-morrow night hold thyself in readiness, and I and the 
duke will come to thee (for although I come by day, yet my 
husband can not do so) ; and each of us will state to thee the 
causes of our existing quarrel. Thou shalt then give judgment 
which of us is in the right, join our hands together, pronounce 
the Lord's blessing upon us, and afterward unite with us in 
praising God.' After the duke had promised to do so, the spirit 
disappeared. 

" The day following, the duke continued his devotions until 
evening, when he expressly commanded his guard to let no one 
enter his chamber, as also to pay attention if they should hear 
any one speak. Hereupon he ordered two wax-tapers to be 
lighted and placed upon the table, and also the Bible and hymn- 
book to be brought, and thus expected the arrival of the spirits. 
They made their appearance at eleven o'clock : first came the 
princess, as before, as though alive, and again stated to the duke 
the causes of their quarrel ; then came also the spirit of the 
prince, in his wonted princely dress, but looking very pale and 
deathlike, and gave the duke quite a different account of their 
disagreement. Upon this, the duke gave judgment, that the 
spirit of the prince was in the wrong, to which the latter also 
assented, and said, ' Thou hast judged right.' On this, the duke 
took the cold hand of the prince, laid it in the hand of the prin- 
cess, which possessed natural warmth, and pronounced the 
blessing of the Lord upon them, to which they both said — 
'Amen !' The duke then began to sing the hymn, ■ We praise 
thee, O God!' &c, during which it seemed to him as if both 
really sang with him. After finishing the hymn, the princess 
said to the duke, ■ God will reward thee for this, and thou wilt 
soon be with us.' On which, they both vanished. The guards 
had overheard nothing of this conversation, except what the 
duke said, who, if I mistake not, died a year afterward, and. 



202 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

for secret reasons, ordered his body to be buried in quicklime." 
Thus far the narrative. 

This apparition furnishes me with an opportunity of making- 
important remarks. That Duke Christian possessed a devel- 
oped organ of presentiment, is clear from the circumstance 
that only he saw the spirits, and heard them speak. Perhaps 
it was on account of this natural disposition, and also for other 
reasons, which I will afterward mention, that he was chosen for 
this singular judicial procedure. The appearance of the prin- 
cess in her earthly clothing, and the circumstance of her being 
still deprived of the bliss of the Divine presence, notwithstand- 
ing her state of rest and inward peace, is a proof that she was 
still in hades, that the quarrel with her husband detained her 
there, and that her imagination was not yet freed from every 
earthly bond. She had also done very wrong in having inti- 
mate intercourse with the cavalier above mentioned, however 
holy and edifying his conversation might be ; for as soon as she 
was aware that the duke was displeased at it, she ought to have 
avoided her friend entirely. Mark, my dear readers! — this 
pious princess had to forego the enjoyment of real heavenly 
felicity during a whole century, although she died in true faith 
in Jesus Christ, and had offered reconciliation A to the duke, be- 
cause she had been knowingly the cause of his taking offence. 
The intimate intercourse between persons of different sexes, 
even though it be of a religious nature, is extremely dangerous, 
and requires uncommon circumspection. 

When we reflect upon the fate of the duke John Casimir, 
we must be struck with amazement and awe. How dreadful, 
to continue for a hundred years together in cold and darkness, 
inwardly grieving at the supposed infidelity of the princess, 
without anything to refresh the senses in the wide and desert 
hades, and God knows in what society, or else in none, and 
consequently alone ! He too had died in the faith of Christ, 
but unreconciled with his spouse. It was this faith that still 
held the anchor of his hope ; it was the magnet which at length 
drew him upward. And yet he had repented of his implaca- 
bility before his death ! Mark well this most important point. 



VISIONS AJN'D APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 203 

We must be reconciled with every one before we leave this 
world ; and if it can be done to-day, we must not neglect it a 
moment. Remember the solemn words, " Forgive us our tres- 
passes as we forgive them that trespass against us !" 

A soul that cherishes the slightest animosity, and takes this 
feeling with it into eternity, can not be happy, although in 
other respects, the individual may have been as pious and faith- 
ful as possible. Bitterness is completely opposed to the nature 
and constitution of heaven. The blood of Christ, who, on the 
cross, in the midst of the most excruciating torments, exercised 
love instead of bitterness, cleanses also from this sin, when it 
flows in our veins. 

But how can a departed spirit feel cold and warmth, and be 
conscious of light and darkness ] 

The spirit that was still attached to his money, and sought to 
induce father and son to remove it from the place where it was 
buried, as related in the first part oT this section, appeared by 
day, but emitted fire from his finger-ends, and felt torment when 
angry or disturbed in his mind. It is probable that the ethereal 
hull of the spirit, as long as it continues in the lower regions, 
in the atmosphere in or above the earth, partakes of the changes 
and modifications of the materials of light. If the soul be still 
under the influence of violent passions, it can not bear the day, 
without feeling the most dreadful torment, because the particles 
of light are then in their greatest operation, and the passions 
would set the outer frame in a flame. Evil spirits, however, 
are not preserved by night and darkness from this ignition. 
The souls of the blessed and righteous, that live in love and 
meekness, inhabit the upper regions, in pure ether, where they 
are no longer affected by heat, or cold, or darkness. They live 
in their eternal element, and enjoy the fullness of bliss. 

It was a benefit to the spirit of the prince that he was exiled into 
cold and darkness. In the element of light, his jealousy would 
have inflamed and tormented him : that evil passion would have 
increased, and he would gradually have become ripe for hell. 
It is astonishing how difficult it is after death, to be delivered from 
fixed ideas and rooted passions. It is here, my dear readers, 



204 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

here in this world that we must mortify them ! Only reflect 
upon the case of this poor prince who was obliged to wait a 
hundred years, and was still unable to conquer them ; so that 
at last an extraordinary means was resorted to, to deliver him 
from them, and assist him forward. 

But it is just these extraordinary means that sets reason at 
work. "Was there then no being in the whole spiritual world 
that could accomplish this reconciliation between the princely 
pair 1 Why, contrary to the natural laws of the spiritual world, 
was a living person of the same family selected for that pur- 
pose % I am convinced that this step was likewise taken, by 
these two spirits, through error and mistake. Every back road 
into the visible, from the invisible world, is unlawful ; and when 
the Lord permits it, he has his sacred reasons for it. 'Tis true 
the princess says, that on entering eternity she was immediately 
aware that one of her descendants would reconcile them, but 
this she knew through the medium of her organ of presenti- 
ment, then entirely developed ; we can scarcely suppose it was 
the positive will of God, though it might be by his permission, 
because it was the only way that was left, in which these poor 
souls could obtain rest. I will explain myself more clearly on 
this point ; for by so doing, I shall find occasion, warmly and 
earnestly to impress upon the heart of my readers a most im- 
portant subject, which as far as I am aware has been very little 
considered. 

Let us suppose a very pious and learned man, who fills a pub- 
lic and important office, and consequently enjoys respect and 
influence ; or a merchant whose business is extensive, and who 
is rich ; in short, all persons in elevated situations, whether no- 
blemen, rulers, or of whatever degree. We will select from 
these various ranks a true Christian, put ourselves in his place, 
and then examine our sentiments toward Christians of the infe- 
rior classes. The idea of a more elevated dignity which we 
possess in the character of the former, gradually fixes itself in 
our minds, without our perceiving it, it continues dormant as 
long as an inferior shows us the respect due to our rank ; we 
also probably show ourselves condescending toward him, and 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 205 

call him brother ; but as soon as he opposes us in any way, or is 
in any measure deficient in showing that respect which we be- 
lieve we have a right to demand of him, the abovenamed feel- 
ing is immediately roused, and if we do not creep without de- 
lay to the cross, and there arm ourselves with meekness and 
humility, the spark immediately ignites in our hearts, love is 
extinguished, and the fire of pride and revenge is kindled, so 
that we become insulting, and offer up to hell and its prince an 
acceptable sacrifice. It afterward requires a long time until the 
heart which has been seared by this angry flame, again be- 
comes susceptible of the mild influences from above, and is able 
to make the germs of charity and humility shoot forth anew. 
If this idea be not totally eradicated before death, and if, fixed 
in our minds it passes into eternity, the enjoyment of full salva- 
tion is utterly impossible : for there the order of rank is regu- 
lated by totally different laws; the superior or inferior share 
of love and humility, or in a word, of sanctification, determines 
there the degree of dignity, of office, and of honor. There the 
ruler may meet the meanest of his subjects; the man of rank, 
his shoe-black ; the mistress, her poor waiting-maid ; the rich 
man, the poor tattered beggar whom he had often dismissed 
from his door with a half-penny, in the possession of elevated 
dignity, and clothed with honor. Now if the idea above men- 
tioned still exist in the individual, it then takes fire in the ethe- 
real body, and burns with much greater vehemence. The flame 
of envy and wrath blazes up ; the spirits of the blessed retire, 
and the poor spirit flies far off into the desolate regions of hades, 
in cold and darkness, where if the man have died in true faith 
in Christ, his fire by degrees diminishes, and at length when 
the fixed idea is annihilated, and the streams of love and humil- 
ity have quenched every part of it, he is elevated to a higher 
sphere. 

As mankind are at present constituted, birth, prosperity, rich- 
es, superior abilities, without any reference to virtue or piety, 
determine the difference of rank. This order of things is ac- 
cording to the will of God, as far as relates to the present state 
of existence ; and it is highly incumbent on every one i<> re- 

18 



206 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

spect it, and conauct himself in perfect obedience to its laws : 
he that acts otherwise is deserving of punishment. "We have 
seen, during the French Revolution, what dreadful consequen- 
ces have resulted from the abolition and destruction of this order 
of things. It is, therefore, just and right for every one to de- 
mand that honor, obedience, and respect, which is due to his 
station, and that he be punished who disregards it ; but this 
must result solely and sincerely from a feeling of duty toward 
the laws of order, and by no means from the idea or the con- 
sciousness of our own greater worthiness. 

When a prince or a ruler becomes a true Christian, governs 
as such, and renders his country and his people happy, he has 
certainly to expect a much more glorious inheritance in the life 
to come, than any other mortal ; for how much has the soul of 
a prince to struggle with, from his youth up ! how many dan- 
gers to encounter ; how many temptations to overcome ;' how 
much to mortify ! Now if in all this, he be found faithful unto 
death, how great will his felicity be in the world above ! And 
if we add to this, what Christ pronounced unto him who had 
been faithful in a few things : what will he not grant unto him 
who has been faithful in many ! Yet, notwithstanding all this, 
his bliss will be much diminished, if not entirely withheld, if he 
passes into the other world with the idea of royal extraction, 
family pride, and noble blood. All this must be mortified in 
this life, and totally obliterated from the heart. 

I fear that, in this point, both the duke and the princess, not- 
withstanding their piety, were deficient. The idea had become 
fixed in one or both of them, that they must be reconciled by a 
person of rank out of their own family. Inferiors were, in 
their eyes, not sufficiently worthy for this purpose, and they 
had taken with them out of this life a mistrust of others of their 
own rank. They were, therefore, on that account, obliged to 
wait so long ; because it was not easy to find any one in their 
family that might not be injured by the development of the 
faculty of presentiment (and yet Duke Christian died a year 
afterward), and who possessed suitable religious sentiments for 
such a purpose. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 207 

But what was the reason why the good and pious Prince 
Christian ordered his corpse to be buried in quick-lime 1 As- 
suredly that it might the sooner perish. But why so ? Prob- 
ably because he believed that both spirits had availed them- 
selves of their bodies, which were still uncorrupted, in order 
to appear ; this he wished to avoid after death : but the good 
prince had no reason to be apprehensive on that account. 

I now come to those apparitions of spirits, which the inflex- 
ible judgment of God has doomed to linger for a long period 
upon the borders of this world and the next, as a warning 
example to the living, until their eternal destiny be decided. 

A pious and intelligent citizen and tradesman in the town 

of , wrote to me a few years ago, with an account of a 

remarkable apparition, which occurred to one of his friends ; 
but, not being altogether clear on the subject, I will not now 
insert it. On that occasion, he mentioned in his letter an 
affair which had happened to himself: I afterward begged him 
to inform me of the particulars of it, and now relate them in 
his own words : — 

" It was on the 24th of February, 1800, that I engaged my- 
self, as a journeyman, to my dear and never-to-be-forgotten 

master , in , with whom I spent two years and six 

weeks, previous to my going to Switzerland and working at 
Basle. Having never seen anything of spirits, except some faint 
traces from my youth up, I was not at all afraid, either by day 
or by night, but was fearless at all times, as was also the case 
while living with my master abovementioned. Now, it often 
happened that I had something to do or fetch from my bed- 
room, late at night, whither I always willingly went in the 
dark, either for myself or my comrades; and I can truly say 
that I never saw anything, though I heard something; but know- 
ing no better, nor being willing to know any better, I ascribed 
the noise, however suspicious it might seem, to cats, or rats, or 
mice. About five weeks passed over in this manner, when, 
coming down, upon one occasion, from my bedchamber into 
the room, without having taken a candle, the servant-woman 
whom we had began to smile, and said, ' L is not afraid, 



208 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

but let him once go up boldly to the loft, and I warrant it will 
be otherwise with him, if our sackbearer meets him or begins 
to make a noise.' This speech astonished me, but I said noth- 
ing : however, I now saw clearly why they were so much 
afraid of going up to the loft, for no one ventured alone but 
myself, and to do it without a light was out of the question. I 
was therefore soon aware that it was supposed the loft was 
haunted. 

" This excited my curiosity to see something of the ghost, or 
to hear something positive of its proceedings ; so that I listened 
every night, until I should obtain some certainty in the matter. 
The Easter holydays were now approaching ; and I inferred, 
beforehand, that something might occur in them, and so it really 
happened : for as I went one night into the bedroom with my 
comrade, a noise began to be heard above it on the floor — our 
room being up three pairs, and. this floor up four pairs of stairs, 
and consequently in the very place where the noises had been 
heard — at first very gently, from the lower end of the room, 
just as when a person, quite faint and weary, totters about in 
old slippers, and seeks to tread securely in the dark. Mean- 
while, all the three journeymen were in bed, and my bedfel- 
low had slipped so far down under the coverlet, that nothing 
of him was to be seen : I listened, however, with great atten- 
tion, and scarcely breathed audibly. Now, when this tottering 
motion had proceeded from the lower end of the loft, until it 
came immediately over our bedplace, there was on a sudden 
such a dreadful fall, that our bedstead and the window shook. 
It was just such a fall as when some one with a ponderous 
burden had let a heavy sack fall upon the vacant floor. Mean- 
while the tottering steps continued for some time, before all 
was quiet again. My bedfellow, who was still under the 
coverlet, now jogged me, and said in a very low tone, ■ You 
understand now why we mentioned the sackbearer to you?' 
' Yes !' answered I aloud, ' but I will see him too before I be- 
lieve it.' ' Hush !' replied he, 'be still, or else you will bring 
us all into some misfortune.' I laughed, and was just on the 
point of stepping out of bed and going up stairs ; but he held 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 209 

me, and begged me, by all means, to be quiet and stay with 
him. This I did unwillingly, but resolved, when all were 
asleep, if the noise were repeated, to investigate the matter 
further. At length we all fell asleep. 

" The next morning, we told our master what had happened 
in the night, and what I had resolved to do. He heard it with- 
out astonishment, and said with an emphasis peculiar to him, 
*I will explain the matter to you. The disturbances which 
you heard last night are nothing new in this house, and were 
the reason why my grandfather, many years ago, was enabled 

to purchase it at a cheap rate. He was from M in H , 

and came hither during the lime of his journeying. This house 
at that time stood empty, and its owner, a man of property, 
had removed from it on this account, and had thoughts of sell- 
ing it to the first bidder. My grandfather, a pious and cour- 
ageous man, took advantage of this circumstance and went to 
buy it. The proprietors immediately gave him the keys, that 
he might view the premises, but did not accompany him to see 
the house ; and disposed of it to him at a very low price, at the 
same time informing him why the house was in such bad re- 
pute, and what had been said of it by his predecessors, namely, 
that three hundred years ago it had been a monastery of 
capuchins, one of whom continues to haunt the house to this 
hour, and disturbs people at night, particularly upon the fourth 
floor. The reason of this no one had ever been able to ascer- 
tain ; but that he might still perceive in the house the traces of 
a former monastery, as also in the adjoining buildings : for 
instance, monastic paintings, choirs, aisles, 'former cell-doors, 
&c, &c. ; and if he would look behind the stove in the centre 
sitting-room, he would find the year 1550, in which the room 
must first have been made out of a cell — all this still remains,' 
said my master, 'as you yourself may see — but this did not 
hinder my grandfather from buying it. Now, we have heard 
from him that a noise and a similar downfall have been hoard 
in the house; but it was not at that time so frequent nor 
alarming, nor had he or his family ever seen anything ; and the 
name of sackbearcr had been given to the disturber even at 

18* 



210 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

that time. During this state of things my grandfather died, 
and my late father succeeded him in the possession of the 
house ; the noise then became somewhat louder. 

" ' About this time, a baker, of the name of , occupied 

the lower floor. As this man was standing, one morning before 
daybreak, near his oven, and had just put his bread into it, he 
heard a gentle footstep along the narrow passage, that leads 
from the great stone cellar staircase into the house-part, where 
the baking-oven is placed, which announced to him the near 
approach of some living being ; and in reality, after a short 
pause, he saw a long-bearded, elderly capuchin, with a cowl 
and rather dirty nightcap, coming toward him. But, instead 
of staying to hear what his business might be, he was so terri- 
fied that he ran into his room, locked and barred everything, 
and left his bread in the oven, which, as he did not come out 
befoie broad daylight, was all burned. This was the first time 
that he had been seen in the house. Our landlord, the weaver, 
who lives upon this floor, saw him also afterward in the same 
form, just as he was stealing up the ascent from the third to 
the fourth floor ; and it is on account of the frequent nightly 
disturbances that the journeyman-weavers no longer lie up 
stairs near your bedroom, but prefer sleeping in their work- 
shop, however unhealthy it may be ; and that room stands 
empty to this day. 

" ' This,' said my good master, ' is what I am able to tell you 
of the matter.' It was enough for me at the time, for I knew 
that he was not in the habit of shooting in the dark, and that if 
he had not been sure of the matter, he would have preferred 
saying nothing about it. I therefore said that I should be glad 
to see this capuchin also. ' Ah !' said they all, ' be not too bold, 
but be warned by us.' I was nevertheless very impatient till I 
should again have an opportunity of listening to the noise : how- 
ever, it was not heard every night, but only irregularly. 

" At length, toward midsummer, the late brother of my dear 
master, who was a stuff-manufacturer, and resided on the floor 
below our bedroom, was taken ill, and, the worse he grew, the 
more violent was the noise made by the spirit in the loft above, 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 211 

so that I passed many a sleepless hour in listening to its super- 
natural motions, sounds, and falls. We told our master of this, 
who took it this time more to heart, because he could not com- 
prehend the reason, especially when my comrade, who com- 
plained of his health being injured, wanted to leave him. I 
encouraged the latter as much as I could, and he did, in fact, 
remain till the following Christmas. But the illness of the dear 

departed increased ; and, in faith in the crucified Jesus, 

he drew near his happy end, and entered into the joy of his 
Lord. I was present at his decease, and shall never forget the 
impressions I then received. I assisted in carrying his corpse 
into another chamber, three rooms distant, where it laid until 
the third day, when it was withdrawn from our view, and sown 
in hope of a glorious resurrection. 

" In the evening, after having set up for several nights be- 
fore, I went with my comrades to bed, but I shudder when I 
think of what then occurred, and the manner in which the spirit 
made itself heard ; for scarcely had we laid ourselves down, 
before it again began to totter along from behind, with slow 
and toilsome steps. My two comrades again crept under the 
bedclothes, but this time it availed nothing, for all heard what 
now took place ; for immediately afterward, it fell down with 
such an awful and horrible crash, that made everything shake 
again. I listened to it attentively, and noticed that for a few 
moments there was a deathlike silence ; after which, T heard 
such a piercing and hollow groan as made me shudder ! It 
would be in vain to describe it, for I venture to affirm that no hu- 
man being nor any creature could send forth such a lamentable, 
melancholy, and appalling sound. After this, it was as if some 
one who had suffered a grievous fall, endeavored gradually to 
gather himself up again, and yet was never able to get upon 
his feet, but ever on the point of rising up, broke down under 
the burden, and after a short pause, again lay enfeebled on the 
spot; for now it began to get up, and then to slip down again, 
and to utter meanwhile the most dreadful groans. In short, it 
was scarcely possible for any one to bear to hear it : and the 
same thing occurred the next night. 



212 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

" Do not imagine, my dear sir, that this could have been oc- 
casioned by wicked men ; for, as I have said before, it was 
impossible for any one to do it, and not an individual in the 
house would have gone up to the loft if the whole house had 
been given him for so doing, nor could any person enter from 
without. After the funeral of our departed friend, we told our 
master what had occurred during the past nights. This pained 
him exceedingly. He related the whole matter to the late 

, member of the consistory, as also to ,* chaplain to 

the court, and referred particularly to the last-mentioned dis- 
turbances ; but they only entered so far into the matter as to 
come to the conclusion, that, ' as his departed brother had ex- 
perienced such a happy transition into the mansions above, it 
must have been very painful to this unhappy spirit to be obliged 
to linger here below in such a manner ; that his sighs and groans 
seem to confirm this, and likewise the extraordinary disturb- 
ance on the occasion of his brother's dissolution ; but, as it did 
not let itself be seen as well as heard, it was inferred that its 
deliverance was still remote.' This opinion was partly satis- 
factory and partly distressing to my dear master, because in 
this way he could not hope for any immediate termination of 
the disturbance. 

" I frequently endeavored, after this, to persuade him to keep 
watch, during the silence of the night, in the loft, to see if the 
spirit would not show itself. This was at length carried into 
effect. My master, the weaver I have before mentioned, and 
myself, sat there frequently till after midnight; but, though 
none of us breathed audibly, and were as silent as possible, yet 
it was still more silent in the loft : and I believe that if we had 
sat there till this moment, the result would have been the same. 
It was also resolved between my worthy master, my timid but 
pious comrade, and myself, to meet there in the evening for 
mutual prayer, in order to supplicate the Divine aid in this mat- 
ter. The effect of this was, that although we never saw any- 

* Both these well-known, learned, and pious divines, are my true friends, for I 
know that the former continues to he so, in his state of bliss, and the latter is still 
living, and enjoys the Divine blessing on his labors. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 213 

thing, we were subsequently less disturbed. However, I must 
notice one circumstance with regard to our watching : that 
when my attention and expectation, particularly toward mid- 
night, had been excited to the utmost, so that I was really vexed 
that it was all in vain, I was the more surprised, after coming 
down stairs, between one and two o'clock, to hear the noise 
again ; and I must say that, though I was convinced on all sides 
that a departed spirit was the cause of these disturbances, yet, 
by frequent watching, and going up to the loft, I was only the 
more daring, and I now resolved more firmly than ever to ob- 
serve and listen to it quite alone. 

" One night, as we were undressing ourselves, one of my 
comrades sighed and said, ' Oh, if the night were only past !' I 
said very coolly, ' Hush ! when I am there, he does not stir a 
step.' But scarcely were the words out of my mouth, when 
three dreadful falls ensued, and the usual disturbances were 
continued for a long time afterward. My comrade said : ' Hear 

me, L , thou wilt yet cause us all some misfortune ; do be 

quiet !' I complied, for I felt that I had acted too thoughtlessly. 

" Another time, on awakening after midnight with the noises, 
I listened attentively to the spirit's motions, sighs, &c, when 
suddenly it seemed as though the creeping noise gradually ap- 
proached my chamber-door, and I also really heard the lock 
move. I therefore rose very gently from bed, fully expecting 
to get a sight of it, and ran to the door, opened it quickly, and 
immediately looked out into the passage, but I saw and heard 
nothing. However, as soon as I was again in my room, the 
noise in the upper floor recommenced, and, observing that all 
about me were asleep, the time seemed suitable for executing 
the intention I had so long cherished : it was half-past two 
o'clock. The unnatural hollow falls and noise continued. I 
dressed myself a little, as silently as possible, and, while listen- 
ing to the disturbance, considered what I should ask the spirit, 
and say to it, in the event of getting a sight of it. Having thus 
studied my part, I went to the door again, and through the dark 
passage that leads to the upper staircase, which I ascended so 
silently that not even a mouse could have heard me. In going 



214 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

along, I continued to hear the hollow falls and the disturbance 
in the loft, and therefore hoped that I should this time succeed. 
On feeling the last three steps before me, I bent forward, and, 
placing one foot on the uppermost, with a single spring I reached 
the loft, with my face in the direction where the disturbance 
took place. There I stood — but, good God, how awful, how 
silent ! Never was I conscious of a silence more profound. I 
looked hastily around, and observed that, in the left corner of 
the loft, a gray shadow, of about four and a half feet high, lost 
itself behind the chimney, in a bundle of twigs. I ran imme- 
diately to the place, tore asunder the twigs, but it was in vain ; 
I neither saw nor heard anything. I stood there a little longer, 
but I must confess a feeling of horror came over me : I was 
conscious that I had here to do with spirits ; what I had studied 
availed nothing. I had also taken the precaution to arm my- 
self, but I might as well have left them in my bedroom ; for if 
the mercy of God had not watched over me, my temerity might 
have cost me dear. 

" I might have communicated to you many other occurrences 
which have happened in this house ; but as they are all of a 
similar nature, I think you will pardon me if I do not take up 
any more of your time with them. I should be glad to have 
the honor and the pleasure of hearing your sentiments and im- 
pressions on the subject. I have also subsequently inquired 
how the matter stood, and am informed that it is still continued, 
although the noise is not so violent as at the beginning of the 
present century, and at the dissolution of the above-mentioned 
departed friend. 

" And now, dear and honored sir, I have to request, that, al- 
though I can attest the truth of the above statement, you will 
not include my name or the names of those I have mentioned 
in it, in any extracts you may make from it, having more than 
one sufficient reason for not wishing them to be made public." 

Such is the account given by this dear, intelligent, and pious 
friend. 

I subsequently wrote to a confidential friend, who resides at 
the place where these disturbances take place. This individual 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 215 

is a doctor of medicine, a learned and particularly pious man ; 
and I begged him to inquire what had further transpired rela- 
tive to the haunted house. He went therefore to a clergyman, 
still living, whom the owner of the house had previously con- 
sulted, as before mentioned, made inquiry respecting the real 
state of the case, and learned that the spirit is still heard, and 
predicts to the inhabitants of the house events which are about 
to occur. I am sorry that I have not learned more regarding 
this latter circumstance ; but if I should again visit the town 
where the terrific apparition is heard, T will go myself to the 
house, inquire minutely into every circumstance, and then com- 
municate this, as well as anything else which I may have 
learned or discovered, to my readers, as an appendix to this 
work. 

The courage and resolution with which my friend, then a 
journeyman, proceeded in his investigation, are astonishing. 
As a pious person, and one who had experienced the pardoning 
grace of God, whose intentions were just and good, he had 
nothing to fear, except then, when he tore the bundle of vine- 
twigs asunder, and thus probably grasped with his hands the 
spirit's atmospheric body. This might have occasioned ulcer- 
ous and dangerous swellings ; but the spirit of the capuchin 
does not appear to me to be a malicious, but rather a deplora- 
ble and deeply-afflicted being, that may perhaps still have the 
hope of salvation ; consequently its atmospheric body is not 
inflamed and pestilential. But it may also be the case that, 
when under the appearance of a gray shadow, it lost itself in 
the twigs, it forsook its body, and returned to its element. 

I wish that my friend, at the moment when he sprang up the 
three steps into the loft, had seriously placed himself in the 
presence of God, and addressed the spirit in the following man- 
ner : " I beseech thee, thou deeply-suffering soul ! in the name 
of thy Redeemer and mine, Jesus Christ, to tell me what is thy 
wish, and why thou thus troublest this house." If it had re- 
plied to this, opportunity would have been presented to go fur- 
ther, and perhaps to have assisted him in obtaining rest ; but 
if he had returned no answer, there would have been nothing 



216 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

lost by it. If all apparitions and haunted places were investi- 
gated with such a heart devoted to God, and with so much 
courage, it would be found that, among a hundred, perhaps 
ninety-nine were deceptions and delusions. 

Mysterious and awful is the conduct of this spirit. It is a 
fact, which has been long and generally acknowledged, that 
\, spirits in a state of misery frequently haunt the spot where, du- 
ring their lifetime, they have carried on their revels, and in 
unsubstantial forms often imitate them after death, seeking in 
them, but in vain, an alleviation of their sufferings ; they pant 
L after the enjoyments of sense, but are destitute of the organs 
for that purpose, for the images they form have nothing real or 
satisfying in them. To this class of spirits, whose damnation 
seems inevitable, the spirit of the capuchin monk does not be- 
long ; he does not carry his heavy sack in order to amuse him- 
self with it, or to repeat his former pleasures, but rather that 
he may thus make those about him aware of his dreadful suf- 
ferings — and will probably continue to do so, until he finds 
some one on whose faculty of presentiment he can operate, and 
thus converse with him. His actions are therefore loud com- 
plaints of his unutterable wo. 

As it appears from the latest intelligence, communicated 
above, that he can now make himself understood, and is able to 
converse with the people, I wish, on this very account, to hear 
further particulars regarding his present state ; it might per- 
haps be possible to show him how he might obtain rest. 

The pantomime he acts is thai of a man carrying with diffi- 
culty a heavy sack of corn, and then either throwing the sack 
down, because its weight becomes intolerable, or falling down 
with it himself: hence he has been called " The Sackbearer." 
The reason why he acts this part may be explained in two 
ways : it is possible that formerly, in his lifetime, he may have 
been guilty of defrauding in grain, and that he now seeks to 
acknowledge this sin to the living, and give them to understand 
that they should pray for him ; he perhaps also continues to 
remind them of his state, until he find some one upon whom he 
can work, to whom he can approach, and be able to state by 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 217 

what means he expects to be delivered. Eat it is also possible 
that, by his thus carrying with so much difficulty this insup- 
portable load, he only seeks to make his dreadful sufferings 
known. Thus, the greater his sufferings and torments are, the 
heavier are the falls of the sack, and the more weary his steps. 
I therefore perfectly agree with the opinion of the clergyman, 
that the happy death of the pious stuff-mannfacturer must have 
deeply grieved the poor spirit. It must have pained it to see 
that the soul of the former was, immediately after death, con- 
ducted by angels to the felicity of heaven, while itself had been 
obliged to endure eternal torments for centuries. But there is 
also one thing more which I would notice, and that is, the spirit 
was a monk ; and it is well known that those who belong to 
their orders, have an established maxim, that no one out of the 
pale of the Romish church can be saved : it must, therefore, 
have pained him exceedingly to see an evangelical Lutheran — 
a heretic — at once received up into glory; for, during his soli- 
tary confinement in this quondam monastery, he had probably 
had no opportunity of divesting himself of this inhuman and 
malignant prejudice. 

It is remarkable, that the spirit made himself visible twice in 
his monkish dress ; he was perhaps in hopes of being able to 
speak with the baker or weaver ; he therefore assumed his cus- 
tomary habit and made himself visible. But why did he not 
show himself to the journeyman, who would so gladly have 
seen and spoken with him % I answer, because he was afraid 
of this courageous and pious man. The latter might, also, not 
possess the predisposition requisite to enable the spirit to work 
upon him and develop his faculty of presentiment. 

It is incomprehensible why this kind of solemn, appalling, 
and obvious testimonies to the continuance of our existence 
after death, makes so little impression upon us. People fear 
them, as children do a bugbear, and there the matter rests. 
Instead of reflecting upon them, drawing important conclusions 
from them, and forming the resolution to amend their lives, 
they relate these ghost-stories as tales of amusement, and feast 
the imagination on the torments of their departed fellow-crea- 

19 



218 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

tures. The great and the learned in the world have eyes to 
see, and yet will not see, and anathematize those as unenlight- 
ened that do see, and endeavor to make them appear ridiculous 
and contemptible. The Lord pardon them ! 

Before I go further, I must notice another singular circum* 
stance and express my sentiments upon it. Many authentic 
apparitions have been related to me, in which spirits have been 
uuable to rest, nay, some even for centuries together, because 
their bones, the remains of their mortal frame, were not prop- 
erly interred or brought into the churchyard. And this is the 
ca-e, not only with us Christians, because we regard the 
churchyard or burying-ground as something sacred ; but there 
are instances, even among the heathen, of reappearing spirits 
entreating a regular burial, and complaining that they could not 
rest until this was done. Pliny relates an instance of this in 
one of his letters, in which he says that a house in Athens had 
become notorious on account of its being haunted ; that a phi- 
losopher questioned the spirit, and was told by it that it could 
not rest until its remains were regularly interred, describing, 
at the same time, the place where they laid. After its request 
had been fulfilled, the house became quiet. 

All demands of this nature, which are made by spirits, origi- 
nate in mistaken notions ; they are ideas which have been fixed 
in them at their departing hour, and which, after death, torment 
them like furies. Persons who die in their carnally-minded 
state still cleave, with great affection, to their bodies ; and if 
they take with them, I would almost say, the superstitious idea 
that anything depends upon a funeral solemnity, or the place 
where the body corrupts, they certainly will be unable to rest 
until their wish is fulfilled. But even this very fulfilment hin- 
ders their further advancement, because their mistake has not 
been removed, but rather confirmed. In this case, the de- 
mands of such a spirit must not be complied with, but it must 
be set right, particularly by being told that the bodies of the 
most eminent saints have been burned and their ashes scattered 
to every wind, or have been devoured by wild beasts, and dis- 
graced and mutilated in various ways ; and that all this does not 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 219 

diminish their felicity in the least ; that it ought rather to be 
solicitous to find rest at the true source, and trouble itself no 
more about the miserable earthly clod. 

Here I can not refrain from giving a hint of some impor- 
tance. To a regenerate and sanctified Christian it may be a 
matter of indifference what is done with his earthly remains : 
But how few there are of this description ! But let us only 
consider what a carnally-minded, unsanctified soul must suffer 
after death, if the individual have been executed, by being 
hung, or broken upon the wheel, or have come to a shameful 
death in any other manner ; or when the bodies of poor people 
are taken to the dissecting-room and there mutilated in various 
ways ; — and how many depart this life with feelings of poig- 
nant grief, because they know that their bodies will be after- 
ward given for dissection ! I am well aware that the poor 
creatures err in this matter; but charity, at least, ought to 
induce us regularly to inter the bodies of malefactors, accord- 
ing to the Mosaic law, and this ought reasonably to be done 
after dissection. Sometimes it is the case ; but still skeletons 
are prepared and parts preserved, which are either made use 
of in the course of instruction or for public exhibition. 

The most important, most remarkable, and most mysterious 
apparition of all, I have reserved to the last, and with it T will 
conclude the present work. I refer to the well-known appari- 
tion of the White Lady, as she is called. 

It is a matter of almost universal notoriety, that a female 
figure, rather tall and clothed in white, has been seen in several 
castles ; for instance, in the castles of Neuhaus in Bohemia, 
Berlin, Bayreuth, Darmstadt, and here also in the castle at 
Carlsruhe ; she wears a veil, through which her face can just 
be distinguished ; she generally appears in the night, not long 
before the death of one of the reigning family, although many 
of them die without the spirit's appearing. She sometimes 
also foreshows, by her appearing, the death of those who be- 
long to the court, but not to the reigning family. 

Merian relates, in the fifth volume of his "Theatre of 
Europe," that, she was frequently seen at the castle in Berlin, 



220 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

in the years 1652 and 1653 ; but what entirely confirms me in 
the belief of this apparition are the two following testimonies. 

It is an ancient tradition that the White Lady has been seen 
by different individuals in the castle of Carlsruhe, and the fact 
is also believed by intelligent people ; but the two following 
instances of her appearing decide the matter. An illustrious 
lady went one evening, at dusk, to walk in the garden of the 
castle, accompanied by her husband. Without the remotest 
thought of the White Lady, she suddenly saw her, very plainly, 
standing near her on the path, so that she could very distinctly 
perceive her whole figure. She was terrified and sprang to 
the other side of her husband, on which the White Lady van- 
ished. This distinguished individual told me that his lady 
turned deadly pale with the fright, and her pulse beat vio- 
lently. Soon afterward, some one died belonging to the lady's 
family. 

I have the second proof of it from a pious and very learned 
man, who fills a respectable office at the court, and who is a val- 
uable friend of mine. Every one that knows him will testify, 
that with him there is not the smallest idea of deceit, delusion, 
or falsehood. This gentleman was passing one evening late, 
through one of the lobbies of the castle, without thinking on any- 
thing of the kind, when the White Lady came toward him. At 
first he believed it was one of the ladies of the court that wished 
to terrify him ; he therefore hastened up to the figure in order 
to lay hold of it, but he then perceived it was the White Lady, 
for she vanished before his eyes. He observed her particular- 
ly ; he could even remark the folds in her veil, and through it, 
her countenance, while from within her a faint light appeared 
to glimmer. 

She was also wont to be seen about the time of the three 
principal church festivals. She generally appears in the night, 
but is likewise frequently seen in the open day. 

It was at the castle of Neuhaus, in Bohemia, about three hun- 
dred and fifty years ago, where she was first seen, and that very 
often. She was frequently observed looking out at noon-day, 
from a window at the top of an uninhabited turret of the castle. 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 221 

She was entirely white ; had on her head a white veil, with 
white ribands, was of tall stature, and of modest deportment. 
She was, of course, during her lifetime, of the Roman catholic 
religion ; for three hundred and fifty years ago, no other was 
known. There are only two instances of her having spoken. 
A certain illustrious princess was standing in her dressing-room 
before the looking-glass, with one of her maids of honor, in or- 
der to try on some article of dress ; and on asking the lady in 
waiting what lime it was, the White Lady suddenly stepped 
forth from behind a screen, and said, " It is ten o'clock, my 
dears !" The princess was dreadfully alarmed, as may easily 
be supposed. A few weeks afterward, she fell ill and died. 

In December of the year 1628, she appeared also in Berlin, 
and was there heard to say the following words in Latin, u Veni, 
judica vivos et mortuos ; judicium mild adhuc superest /" that 
is, "Come, judge the living and the dead; my fate is not yet 
decided!" 

From the many and various apparitions of this spirit, I will 
only select another, which is particularly remarkable. 

At Neuhaus, in Bohemia, there is an old institution, which 
provides that on Holy Thursday a mess of sweet pottage should 
be given to the poor, in the courtyard of the castle ; this mess 
consisted of some kind of pulpous fruit, with honey, after which 
every one had as much small-beer to drink as he desired, and 
besides this, received seven pretzel. Many thousand poor peo- 
ple often assembled on this day, and were all feasted in this man- 
ner. When the Swedes, in the thirty years' war, had subdued 
the town and the castle, and neglected the distribution of this 
meal to the poor, the White Lady began to be so violent, and 
to cause such a disturbance, that the inhabitants of the castle 
could no longer endure it. The guard was dispersed, beaten, 
and thrown to the ground by a secret power. The sentinels 
were frequently met by strange figures and mere visages, and the 
officers themselves were dragged, by night, out of their beds 
along the floor. Now when no means could be devised to rem- 
edy this evil, one of the towns-people told the commander-in- 
chief, that the poor had been deprived of their yearly feast, and 

19* 



222 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

advised him to let it be immediately prepared, according to the 
custom of their predecessors. This was done ; the disturbance 
instantaneously ceased, and nothing more was observed. 

It is certain that the White Lady is not yet in a state of bles- 
sedness ; for in that case she would no longer wander about 
among us. She is still less in a state of condemnation ; for in 
her countenance nothing but modesty, decorum, and piety, is 
manifested ; and she has often been seen to be angry, and as- 
sume a threatening aspect when any one has made use of blas- 
phemous or indecorous language against God and religion, so 
that she has even used violence toward them. 

But now let us inquire who this remarkable and mysterious 
being is. She has been taken for a certain countess of Orla- 
munda ; but I find in the " Monthly Discourses on the World 
of Spirits," from which I have extracted the above account, a 
remarkable key to this affair : the celebrated and learned Jesuit, 
Baldinus, gave himself the trouble to ascertain, with certainty, 
the truth of the matter, the result of which is the following very 
probable history of the White Lady : — 

" In the ancient castle of Neuhaus, in Bohemia, among the 
pictures of the ancient and celebrated family of Rosenberg, 
there was found a portrait which bears an exact resemblance 
to the White Lady. She is clothed, after the fashion of those 
times, in a white habit, and was called Perchta Von Rosenberg. 
The history of this lady's life is briefly as follows : She was 
born between 1420 and 1430 ; her father is said to have been 
Ulrich IT., Von Rosenberg, and her mother Catherine of War- 
tenberg, who died in 1436. This Ulrich was lieutenant-governor 
in Bohemia, and, at the instance of the pope, commander-in- 
chief of the Roman catholic troops against the Hussites. 

" His daughter Perchta, or rather Bertha, was married, in 
the year 1449, to John Von Lichtenstein, a rich baronet in Stey- 
ermark. But as her husband led a vicious and profligate life, 
Bertha was very unhappy. Her marriage proved a constant 
source of grief to her, and she was obliged to seek relief from 
her relatives. Hence it was that she could never forget the 
insults and indescribable distress she had endured, and thus left 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 223 

the world under the influence of this bitter passion. At length 
this unhappy marriage was dissolved by the death of her hus- 
band, and she removed to her brothei, Henry IV. The latter 
began to reign in the year 1451, and died, without issue, in 14-57. 

" Lady Bertha lived at Neuhaus, and built the castle there, 
which occupied several years in building, to the great griev- 
ance of the town's-people. Lady Bertha, however, spoke kindly 
to her vassals, and consoled them with the speedy terminal ion 
of the work, and the due payment of their services. Among 
other things, she generally called out to the workmen, ' Work 
for your masters, ye faithful subjects, work! — when the castle 
is finished, you and all your families shall be feasted with sweet 
porridge,' for so our forefathers expressed themselves when 
they invited any one to be their guest. 

" Now in autumn, when the building was finished, Lady Ber- 
tha kept her word, by treating all her subjects with an excel- 
lent repast, and said to them during dinner, ' In consequence 
of your loyalty to your liege lord, you shall every year have 
such a feast as this; and thus the praise of your good conduct 
shall flourish in afrer-ages.' 

" The lords of Rosenberg and Slavata found it afterward 
more appropriate to transfer this beneficent and charitable feast 
to the day of the institution of the Lord's Supper, on which day 
it is still continued. 

" I do not find at what time Lady Bertha Von Rosenberg 
died ; but it was probably toward the end of the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Her portrait is to be met with in several Bohemian cas- 
tles, in a widow's white dress, which exactly corresponds with 
the appearance of the White Lady. She is most frequently 
seen at Roumlau, Neuhaus, Trzebon, Islubocka, Bechin, and 
Tretzen, which are all Bohemian castles, inhabited by her de- 
scendants; and as individuals of her family married into the 
houses of Brandenburg, Baden, and Darmstadt, she is also in 
the habit of visiting them : and wherever she conies, her object 
is to announce an approaching death — perhaps also to warn 
against some misfortune, for she often appears likewise without 
any one dying." 



224 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

My ideas respecting this mysterious being are as follows : 
The circumstance of Lady Bertha dying unreconciled, aud with 
bitter animosity against her husband, is probably the chief rea- 
son of her melancholy wanderings on the earth, and of her 
being still at such a distance from the enjoyment of heavenly 
felicity. Could she open the springs of love within her, her 
state would soon be ameliorated ; for her other qualities, par-, 
ticularly her beneficence, induce me to hope that she will 1 
eventually find favor. From this benevolent disposition her 
apparition proceeds ; for as soon as she observes, through the 
medium of her organ of presentiment — which in her present 
state is completely developed — that any one of her family will 
shortly die, she appears solely with the intention that such per- 
sons may be brought to reflection and prepare for death ; and 
as no one knows to whom it has reference, all ought therefore 
to be induced by it to salutary consideration. 

The White Lady does not seem to experience suffering or 
torment, for all the testimonies concur in this, that she is tran- 
quil and cheerful, but still not in a state of bliss — a condition 
which, however tolerable in other respects, is certainly not de- 
sirable. She has apparently laid aside the Romish religion, 
because she is so amicably inclined toward protestant families. 
Her benevolent disposition, however, is exercised erroneously, 
for all retro-action upon the living is contrary to the Divine 
order; and the words which the mouth of Truth has spoken — 
" If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be- 
lieve though one rose from the dead" — continue irreversible. 
Seldom or ever is any one converted by an apparition ; the 
result is generally a mere panic : but what appears to me in- 
comprehensible is, that all the undeniable facts of such appear- 
ances, of which the number is so considerable, have not even 
been able to produce the firm conviction or certainty of the 
immortality of the soul. 

I know instances of professed freethinkers and materialists 
having positively seen spirits, so that they were convinced it 
was the soul of one of their deceased acquaintances, and yet 



VISIONS AND APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS. 225 

they continued to doubt of their own immortality and self-con- 
sciousness. My God, what incredulity ! 

I could relate many more authentic tales of apparitions, but 
the above may suffice, as they are sufficient to prove what it 
was intended they should. My sole object is to bring the real 
truth to light, so far as it regards our eternal destiny, and, by 
so doing, win souls for God. — Amen !* 

* See Note 12. 



226 PNEUMATOLOGY. 



CHAPTER V. 

BRIEF SUMMARY OF MY THEORY OF PNEUMATOLOGY, AND IN- 
FERENCES FROM IT. 

1. The whole creation consists solely of essential realized 
ideas of the Deity, or pronounced words of God ; I call these 
ideas original existences. No being, except God, knows them 
all, and none is acquainted with their true, real, and peculiar 
nature. 

2. Among the infinite number of these original existences, 
there are various classes, which are fully conscious of them- 
selves, form ideas of other original existences, and possess rea- 
son and free will : to these belong spirits, angels, and men. 

3. We mortals are totally unacquainted with the mental pow- 
ers (that is, the faculty of imagination, thought, and judgment) 
and the will of other classes of rational beings, and only partially 
so with our own. 

4. In our present natural state, we can not attain to any 
knowledge of created things in any other way than through the 
medium of our five organs of sense. 

5. If any change be made in our organs of sense, or their 
inward arrangement be altered, our ideas of things, and with 
them our knowledge, becomes different. For instance, if our 
eye were otherwise formed, all colors, forms, figures, dimen- 
sions, and distances, would also be different ; and the same is 
the case with all the five senses. 

G. Beings that are differently organized to ourselves, form 
an entirely different idea of our world to what we do. Hence 
it follows incontestably that the ideas we form of the creation, 
and all the science and knowledge resulting from them, depend 
entirely upon our organization. 

7. God views everything as it is in itself, and, in reality, out 
of time and space. For, if he viewed things in space, and as 



A BRIEF SUMMARY, ETC. 227 

no space can be conceived as really existing unless limited, the 
views which God takes would therefore also be limited, which 
is impossible ; consequently no space exists out of us in nature, 
but our ideas of it arise solely from our organization. 

8. If God viewed objects in succession and rotation, he would 
exist in time, and thus again be limited. Now as this is impos- 
sible, time is therefore also a mode of thinking peculiar to finite 
capacities, and not anything true or real. But we mortals nei- 
ther can nor ought to think otherwise than in time and space. 

9. Animal magnetism undeniably proves that we have an in- 
ward man, a soul, which is constituted of the divine spark, the 
immortal spirit, possessing reason and will, and of a luminous 
body, which is inseparable from it. 

10. Light, electric, magnetic, galvanic matter, and ether, ap- 
pear to be all one and the same body, under different modifica- 
tions. The light or ether is the element which connects soul 
and body and the spiritual and material world together. 

11. "When the inward man, the human soul, forsakes the in- 
ward sphere, where the senses operate, and merely continues 
the vital functions, the body falls into an entranced state, or a 
profound sleep, during which the soul acts much more freely, 
powerfully, and actively, all its faculties being elevated. 

12. The more the soul is divested of the body, the more 
extensive, free, and powerful, is its inward sphere of operation. 
It has therefore no need whatever of the body, in order to live 
and exist : the latter is rather a hinderance to it ; it is exiled 
into its dull and gloomy prison, because it is its medium of com- 
munication with the visible world, of which it has need in its 
present state, in order to its ennoblement and perfection. 

13. The whole of these propositions are sure and certain 
inferences which I have drawn from experiments in animal 
magnetism. These most important experiments undeniably 
show that the soul does not require the organs of sense in order 
to be able to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel, in a much more 
perfect state ; but with this great difference, that in such a state 
it stands in much nearer connection with the spiritual than the 
material world. 



cos PNEUMATOLOGY. 

14. The soul, in this state, has no perception whatever of the 
visible world ; but if it be brought into reciprocal connection 
(rapport) with some one who is in his natural state, and acts 
through the medium of his corporeal senses — for instance, 
when the latter lays his hand on the pit of the heart of the for- 
mer — it becomes conscious of the visible world through him, 
and in him is sensible of it. 

15. When the soul is in this exalted state, it certainly exists 
in time, because it can not do otherwise than think in succes- 
sion : all finite spirits are in this situation, so that they only reflect 
upon and form an idea of one thing at a time, but they do not 
live in space. 

16. Space is merely the operation of the material organs of 
sense ; out of them it has no existence : therefore, as soon as 
the soul forsakes the latter, all proximity and distance ceases. 
Hence, if it stand in rapport with a person who is many thou- 
sand miles distant from it, it can impart knowledge, by an in- 
ward communication, and receive it from such a one, and all 
this as rapidly as thoughts follow each other. 

17. This operation of one human being upon another would 
occasion dreadful confusion in the present state of existence, if 
the doors of this mystery were easy to be unfolded. But the 
Most Merciful has rendered this not easily possible. The con- 
tinual increase of knowledge in every department, joined with 
an increasing falling away from Christ and his most holy reli- 
gion, will, however, eventually occasion these barriers to be 
burst, and the Holy of Holies to be plundered : but then the 
measure of iniquity will be full. Wo unto him that publishes 
to the world things so sacred ! 

18. When the soul is separated from the body, it is wherever 
it thinks to be ; for as space is only its mode of thinking, but 
does not exist except in its idea, it is always at the place which 
it represents to itself, if it may be there. 

19. Time being also, in fact, a mere mode of thinking, and 
not existing in reality, the departed soul may be susceptible of 
future things, but only in so far as the laws of the spiritual 
world permit. 



A BRIEF SUMMARY, ETC. 229 

20. By magnetism, nervous disorders, long-continued efforts 
of the soul, and by other secret means, a person who has a 
natural predisposition for it, may in the present life detach his 
soul, in a greater or less degree, from its corporeal organiza- 
tion ; and, in proportion as this takes place, it comes into con- 
tact (rapport) with the world of spirits. I call that by which 
it becomes susceptible of the objects of the latter its faculty, 
or organ of presentiment, and its detachment from the most 
refined part of the nervous system its development. 

21. It is a divine and irreversible law that mankind, in the 
present state, should be guided, with respect to temporal and 
sensible things, by just and rational inferences, the result of a 
sound understanding ; but with respect to those things which 
are above sense, by the Word of God, and in both together, 
by Divine Providence. 

22. For as time and space are only modes of thinking suited 
to the present state, but by which we are unable to compre- 
hend original existences as they really are, it is impossible that 
rational inferences, though mathematically just, can serve to 
guide us into the truths of the invisible world, when their 
premises are founded on modes of thinking adapted to the 
visible world. Hence arise nothing but horrid contradictions 
and pernicious errors ; and this is just the case with the ration- 
alism of the present day in reference to spiritual things. 

23. If it be, therefore, a divine law that mankind in the 
present state should be guided in temporal things by reason, 
and in those which are spiritual and divine, solely by the Holy 
Scriptures, and in both by Providence, and if we ought not to 
know anything of the future, except what God of his free favor 
reveals to us without our own endeavors, it is undeniably a 
heinous sin when any one seeks to develop the faculty of pre- 
sentiment, in order to learn things future or remote, or, by 
connection wilh the spiritual world, to become acquainted with 
hidden mysteries. 

24. If a person obtains a developed organ of presentiment, 
entirely without his own wishing or seeking it, cither through 
illness or any other not sinful cause, he is in a dangerous state ; 

20 



230 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

for it is amazingly difficult, and requires a high degree of divine 
light, to avoid the abuse of a thing so extremely attractive. 

25. "When a far-advanced and enlightened Christian falls 
into this state, he attaches no value to it : on the contrary, he 
humbles himself before his God, and fervently implores wisdom 
and protection against the abuse of it. If he then comes into 
situations where he thinks he may be of some service, he em- 
ploys this disease of the soul for that purpose in the fear of 

God. (-See the examples of Mrs. W and M. Cazotte, in 

the chapter on presentiments.) 

26. "When an unconverted, worldly-minded man develops 
his faculty of presentiment, he falls into danger of idolatry and 
sorcery. Preachers and physicians ought, therefore, to instruct 
the ignorant upon this important point. 

27. There is also another weighty reason why the develop- 
ment of the faculty of presentiment is dangerous ; for, by it, 
spirits have opportunity of influencing the individual, present- 
ing all kinds of images to his mind, and insinuating thoughts 
into it. Now, as the whole atmosphere is full of evil spirits, 
and only such as are partially good — the former being on the 
alert to deceive men, under the guise of angels of light, and 
the latter in error themselves — and as the soul, while in its 
fleshly prison, has not the gift of trying the spirits, the man 
may be dreadfully misled ; and here is the very source of much 
fanaticism, heresy, and of many abominable errors. 

28. Real presentiments — that is, when Providence causes a 
man to be warned of some impending misfortune by the minis- 
try of angels — ought to be well distinguished from a developed 
organ of presentiment. The former has always some suitable 
object in view, the latter generally none at all, 

29. The case is the same with the gift of prophecy, which 
must also be clearly distinguished from the developed faculty 
of presentiment. The former has always some sublime end in 
view for the good of mankind, while the latter often prognostic 
cates funerals and things of no importance. 

30. The boundless ether, that fills the space of our solar sys- 
tem, is the element of spirits, in which they live and move. 



A BRIEF SUMMARY, ETC. 231 

The atmosphere that surrounds our earth down to its centre 
and particularly the night, is the abode of fallen angels, and of 
such human souls as die in an unconverted state. The Bible 
calls the whole of this space sheol and hades ; that is, the recep- 
tacle of the dead. 

31. Previous to the dawning of the Lord's kingdom, the air 
shall be purified from all evil spirits, and they shall be cast into 
the mighty abyss, which is in the centre of the earth. 

32. When a man dies, the soul gradually divests itself of the 
body, and awakes in hades ; it is no longer conscious of the 
visible world ; the world of spirits appears to it as an inter- 
minable glimmering space, in which it can move itself with the 
rapidity of thought ; and as its organ of presentiment is now 
fully developed, it likewise sees the spirits that are in hades. 

33. Souls and spirits communicate their thoughts to each 
other through the medium of the will ; when one soul wishes 
another to know any particular thing, the latter immediately 
knows it : the one reads it in the interior of the other, even as 
the somnambulist reads in the soul of him with whom he stands 
in rapport. 

34. " Where your treasure is, there your heart is also." 
Souls that are not yet dead to the world remain below in the 
regions of darkness ; and if they have served fleshly lusts, their 
abode is with their bodies in the grave. 

35. The souls of all such as have only led a decent, civil life, 
and who, though not vicious, are still no true Christians, must 
undergo a long purification in the waste and desert hades, by 
enduring the deprivation of all that is dear to them, and of 
every enjoyment, while longing, most painfully, after that 
earthly life which has for ever fled ; and thus be gradually 
prepared for the lowest degree of bliss. 

36. The souls of the wicked, on departing from the body, 
are surrounded by evil spirits, that torment them in various 
ways ; the more wicked they have been, the deeper they sink 
into the bottomless pit. Their sufferings are dreadful. 

37. The souls of true Christians, that have trodden the path 
of sanctification, and who expired in the exercise of true faith 



232 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

in Jesus Christ, in the grace of his atonement, and in complete 
renunciation of everything earthly, are received, immediately 
on awaking from the sleep of death, by angels, and without 
delay conducted upward to the pure regions of light, where 
they enjoy the fullness of bliss. 

38. Departed souls have a creative power, which during the 
present state, and in this rude and material world, can only be 
exercised with trouble and expense, and in a very imperfect 
manner ; but after death, the will of the soul is really able to 
produce that which the imagination conceives. 

39. Those souls which are not yet dead to the world, and 
whose imagination is still occupied with the favorite ideas of 
their former life, seek to realize these ideas; but, after all, 
they are mere atmospheric forms, which are unable to afford 
any enjoyment; the soul is also as little capable of enjoying; 
it has no longer any of the organs of sense. Hence the noto- 
rious haunting of old buildings, where these wretched spirits 
seek to renew their former revels. 

40. There is no foundation in the nature and laws of the 
spiritual world for the doctrine of transmigration. A soul may 
pass centuries in hades before it advances any further, but it 
never returns into a human body. The spiritual world has 
sufficient means of purification : there is no need there of a 
return to a life of sense. 

41. When the soul departs out of this life with an unsatis- 
fied desire, it experiences painful sufferings, although it might 
be otherwise capable of heavenly felicity. To be delivered 
from these sufferings, it often longs for some one still alive, 
who may fulfil its desire, and employs the means which are 
known to it to gain its end : hence the apparition of spirits. 

42. Every one ought, therefore, to divest himself betimes — 
and the sooner the better — of all attachment to earthly things ; 
and should anything occur to him in his departing hour that 
ought still to be done or arranged, and which it is no longer 
possible to do, let him commit the affair to Him who can make 
good everything, and continue in this confidence even after 
death ; for his return and reappearing are contrary to the 



A BRIEF SUMMARY, ETC. 233 

Divine order. There may, however, be exceptions to this rule ; 
and it is an indispensable duty for those to whom a spirit appears 
to treat and inform it better, with seriousness and charity. 

43. We can learn nothing from spirits that are still in hades, 
for they know nothing more than we do, except that they see 
further into futurity ; but this we ought not to know. Besides 
this, they may err and wilfully deceive. We ought, therefore, by 
all means, to seek to avoid intercourse with them. Spirits in a 
state of perfect bliss, or such as are really damned, never appear. 

44. Every man has one or more guardian spirits about him : 
these are good angels, and perhaps also the departed souls of 
pious men. Children are attended solely by good spirits ; but 
as the individual gradually inclines to evil, evil spirits approach 
him. The good, however, do not forsake him on this account, 
until they see that he is hardened in sin, and become entirely 
reprobate : they then depart from him, and leave him to his 
awful fate. 

45. As the individual turns from evil to good, the good spirits 
draw near to him with great delight ; and the more he increases 
in faith and sanctification, the more active and beneficial do 
they become. G-ood spirits have power over evil spirits; — 
but the will of man is free : if it incline to evil, the good can 
not help him. We ought not to seek intercourse with guardian 
spirits, for we are nowhere referred to them. 

46. The sleep of the soul — or that state in which the soul is 
supposed to rest, in unconsciousness and inactivity, from death 
till the resurrection at the last day — has no foundation in scrip- 
ture, but merely in the erroneous idea that the soul necessarily 
requires its body in order to act : but, as magnetic experiments 
and the apparitions of spirits incontestably prove the contrary, the 
sleep of the soul is an error, and entirely out of the question. 

47. It is an evident and manifest truth that the soul, when 
delivered from the body, acts more powerfully and freely, and 
that its powers are much superior, than while imprisoned in the 
body. Why, then, has the Creator exiled it into this limited 
and lamentable state? 

48. The answer is easy : because it has fallen from that per- 

20* 



234 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

feet state in which it was created. In paradise, man stood 
connected with both the spiritual and the material worlds, and 
was sensible of objects in both. He ate of the fruit of the tree 
of life in the spiritual world, and ought to have avoided the 
tree of temptation in the visible world ; but he sought to unite 
them both together. If Eternal Love had not ejected him from 
paradise, and excluded him from connection with the world, of 
spirits, he would have become a devil. Excuse this mystic 
interpretation : it detracts nothing from the truth of the relation. 

49. The soul is in a state of restraint in its clothing of 
skins — its cumbersome body, which it must sustain with much 
trouble, and because of which it has much to suffer. Instead 
of being able to satisfy its hunger after knowledge and happi- 
ness, the organization of its body deceives it with imperfect 
ideas and transitory enjoyments, which only make its hunger 
the more insatiable. 

50. Here the door to the great mystery of redemption by 
Christ is unfolded. The soul would not have been saved, even 
in this state. It might have been less injured in the world of 
spirits; but this did not satisfy Eternal Love, which destines it 
to be redeemed and blest, and made more happy than it would 
have been had it never fallen — if it will now but follow and be 
obedient to the counsel of God. 

51. The Logos, the Word of God, by whom the eternal, hid- 
den, and almighty One manifested himself in an endless nu- 
merical progression and succession, that is, in time, became 
man ; and by his sufferings, death, and resurrection, made his 
flesh and blood a leaven, by which every soul that feeds upon it 
in true faith is renovated, and, after being delivered from its 
earthly prison, is translated into the regained heavenly element, 
until, after the resurrection, it puts on its original glory, and is 
placed in a paradise, in comparison with which the first was a 
mere shadow. 

52. From all that has been said, it is clear that materialism, 
with its metaphysical illumination, is a mere but very danger- 
ous creature of the brain — a boundless and bottomless decep- 
tion. Superior illumination in the sciences and in the knowl- 



A BRIEF SUMMARY, ETC. 235 

edge of nature, in so far as it alleviates our earthly thraldom, 
and has influence upon our progress to perfection, is laudable 
and useful ; but with respect to that which is supernatural, and 
concerns our return to our eternal home, we require the supe- 
rior revealed light of the word of G-od, and the enlightening of 
the Holy Spirit. Furnished with this enlightened reason, that 
lunar orb in the darkness of this life may then point out the 
right path. 

53. Real bliss commences first at the resurrection, when the 
glorified body, fashioned after the likeness of Christ, shall be 
again united to the soul ; and the complete man will then be 
organized, both for the glorified visible world and also for the 
world of spirits. 

54. Paradise is that part of hades which is appointed for the 
preparation and abode of souls in a state of grace. It forms 
part of the third heaven (2 Cor. xii. 2-4). Now Christ said to 
the thief, " To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 
xxiii. 43) ; but Christ was in hades, between his death and res- 
urrection (1 Peter iii. 19); and, according to John (xx. 17), he 
had not ascended to his Father immediately after his resurrec- 
tion. He had therefore been in hades, in paradise, where the 
vision of God is still wanting. 

55. Real damnation commences first at the resurrection : the 
resurrection-germ of the body of sin will then be united with 
the soul, and the whole man be banished into the bottomless 
pit, with all the evil spirits, the centre of which is the lake that 
burnetii with fire and brimstone, and which is in the centre of 
the body of the earth.* The Lord, the Merciful, who is ever- 
lasting Love, preserve every reader of this book from this 
dreadful fate ! — Amen. • 

" These conceits of the resurrection-germ, the burning lake, and the central abyss, 
must he placed to the account rather of a pious reverence for the letter of Holy W rit 
than of a genuine philosophy or psychology ; nor are they, in fact, altogether consist- 
ent with the author's very reasonable suggestions in regard to the non ekistenc 
space in the spiritual world. Every man's heaven or hell is found within himself, 
independent of all locality. At the same time, we may admit that, by the laws of 
our internal economy, there will he appearances in the other world answering very 
nearly to what our author understands to be the reality. See Swedenborg's trea- 
tises on " Heaven and Hell" throughout. — Ed. 



NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR. 



NOTE I.— Page 2. 

The Bible, from beginning to end, asserts the operation of supernat- 
ural influence upon mankind, and the connection that subsists between 
the visible and the invisible world. As evidences of this, it relates a 
variety of instances, in which beings from the world of spirits have 
outwardly shown themselves to man, and held converse with him. 
Even Jehovah himself, in the second person of the Godhead, frequent- 
ly condescended to manifest himself in this manner, previous to assu- 
ming our nature, and becoming, in the person of Jesus Christ, like 
unto us.* 

In both the Old Testament and the New, angels in the execution of 
their errands of judgment or of mercy, frequently made themselves vis- 
ible. But because, as our author repeatedly remarks, the reappear- 
ance of departed spirits is contrary to the Divine order, there are only 
two instances of the latter in the Old Testament ; both of which are, 
however, very striking ; the one is that of the prophet Samuel, of 
which copious notice is taken at page 128 of this work : the other is 
the very remarkable apparition recorded in the book of Job, iv. 12-17, 
which, as it may not be familiar to every reader, we here insert : — 

" Now a word was addressed to me in secret, and mine ear received 
a little thereof. 

"In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep fallerh 
on men. 

"Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to 
shake. 

" Then a spirit passed before my face : the hair of my flesh stood up : 

"It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image 
was before mine eyes ; there was silence ; and I heard a voice, saying, 

" ' Shall mortal man be more just than God; shall a man be more 
pure than his Maker?' " 

* There is no evidence that Jehovah made any such manifestations " in the sec- 
ond person of the Godhead." It was the whole Deity in one person who made 
them.— Ed. 



238 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

In the New Testament, we find that Moses and Elias appeared on 
the mount of transfiguration ; but it may be objected, that Moses as 
well as Elias was probably already clothed with this glorified body, as 
were also the saints that rose from the dead at the resurrection of the 
Savior, and appeared unto many. (Matt, xxvii. 52, 53.) But although 
this body be less spiritual than that of the soul, yet it is also naturally 
invisible to man, and its manifestation consequently belongs to the or- 
der of apparitions from the spiritual world ; which we are persuaded 
was also the case with the body of our Lord after its resurrection ; for 
it possessed the peculiar properties of spirit in becoming invisible at 
pleasure, and entering when the doors were shut. This is also con- 
firmed by the recital, which is given us of his appearing to Saul, on 
the way to Damascus ; for those that were with him, though they 
heard the voice, yet they saw no man. (Acts ix. 7.) 

In the Old Testament, there is also pointed allusion made to an in- 
ferior class of spirits called " familiars," and to the forbidden intercourse 
which some held with them (see Deut. xviii. 10-12 ; Isaiah viii. 19). 
We do not however find any account in the Bible of their personally 
appearing, nor of the fallen angels being permitted to show themselves, 
unless we suppose that Satan assumed a visible shape when he tempt- 
ed our Lord in the wilderness, which is however doubtful: and even 
taking it for granted, we must still conclude that he concealed himself 
under some specious form, and endeavored to disguise himself to the 
utmost, for our Lord only addresses him in his real character, when at 
the last he tempted him to fall down and worship him. 

Those who profess to have seen evil spirits, affirm that in their nat- 
ural shape they present a monstrous appearance, which occasionally 
bears a resemblance to some species of the brute creation. Nor is the 
idea at all irrational ; for having by their wickedness, lost the image 
of God, they have also lost all affinity to man in so far as he is still as- 
similated to the divine image. It is likewise worthy of notice, that the 
Scriptures speak of Satan under the appellation of the old serpent, the 
great red dragon, &c. 



NOTE II.— Page 8. 

Plutarch in his works, has preserved a most remarkable vision of the 
world of spirits, which may tend, in some measure, to illustrate the 
ideas which the ancient Greeks formed of it. It is as follows : — 

" Thespesios of Soli, lived at first very prodigally and profligately ; 
but afterward, when he had spent all his property, necessity induced 



NOTE II. 239 

him to have recourse to the basest methods for a subsistence. There 
was nothing, however vile, which he abstained from, if it only brought 
him in money ; and thus he again amassed a considerable sum, but fell 
at the same time into the worst repute for his villany. That which con- 
tributed the most to this, was a prediction of the god Amphilochus : for 
having applied to this deity to know whether he would spend the rest of 
his life in a better manner, he received for answer, ' that he would never 
mend till he died.' And so it really happened, in a certain sense ; for 
not long afterward, he fell down from an eminence upon his neck, though 
he received no wound, yet he died in consequence of the fall. But 
three days afterward, when he was about to be interred, he received 
strength, and came to himself. A wonderful change now took place 
in his conduct, for the Cilicians know no one who at that time was 
more conscientious in business, devout toward God, terrible to his foes, 
or faithful to his friends ; so that those who associated with him wished 
to learn the cause of this change ; justly supposing that such an alter- 
ation of conduct, from the greatest baseness to sentiments so noble, 
could not have come of itself. And so it really was, as he himself re- 
lated to Protogenus, and other judicious friends. 

" When his rational soul left the body, he felt like a pilot hurled out 
of his vessel into the depths of the sea. He then raised himself up, 
and his whole being seemed on a sudden to breathe, and to look about 
it on every side, as if the soul had been all eye. He saw nothing of 
the previous objects ; but beheld the enormous stars at an immense dis- 
tance from each other, endowed with admirable radiance, and uttering 
wonderful sounds ; while his soul glided gently and easily along, borne 
by a stream of light, in every direction. In his narrative, he passed 
over what he saw besides, and merely said, that he perceived the souls 
of those that were just departed, rising up from the earth ; they formed 
a luminous kind of bubble, and when this burst, the soul placidly came 
forth, glorious, and in human form. The souls, however, had not all 
the same motion ; some soared upward with wonderful ease, and instan- 
taneously ascended to the heights above : others whirled about like 
spindles; sometimes rising upward, and sometimes sinking downward, 
having a mixed and disturbed motion. He was unacquainted with the 
most of them, but recognised two or three of his relatives. He drew 
near to them, and wished to speak with them, but they did not hoar 
him, for they were not wholly themselves, but in a state of insensibil- 
ity, and avoiding every touch ; they turned round, first alone in a cir- 
cle, then, as they met with others in a similar condition, they moved 
about with them in all directions, emitting indistinct tones, like rejoicing 



240 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

mixed with lamentation. Others again appeared in the heights above, 
shining brilliantly, and affectionately uniting with each other, but flee- 
ing the restless souls above described. In this place he also saw the 
soul of another of his relatives, but not very perceptibly, for it had died 
while a child. The latter, however, approaching him said, ' Welcome, 
Thespesios !' On his answering that his name was not Thespesios, but 
Aridaios, it replied, ' It is true, thou didst formerly bear that name, but 
henceforth thou art called Thespesios. Thou art, however, not yet 
dead, but by a particular providence of the gods art come hither in thy 
rational spirit; but thou hast left the other soul behind, as an anchor 
in the body. At present, and in future, be it a sign by which thou 
mayest distinguish thyself from those that are really dead, that the 
souls of the deceased no longer cast a shadow, and are able to look stead- 
fastly at the light above without being dazzled.' On this, the soul in 
question conducted Thespesios through all parts of the other world, and 
explained to him the mysterious dealings and government of Divine 
Justice ; why many are punished in this life, while others are not ; and 
showed him also every species of punishment to which the wicked are 
subject hereafter. He viewed everything with holy awe ; and after 
having beheld all this as a spectator, he was at length seized with 
dreadful horror when on the point of departing, for a female form of 
wondrous size and appearance laid hold of him, just as he was going 
to hasten away, and said, ' Come hither, in order that thou mayest the 
better remember everything !' And with that she drew forth a burn- 
ing rod, such as the painters use, when another hindered her, and de- 
livered him ; while he, as if suddenly impelled forward by a violent 
gale of wind, sank back at once into his body, and came to life again 
at the place of interment." 



NOTE III.— Page 47. 

The narrative related above, gives us an example of a voluntary de- 
tachment of the soul from the body ; but the instance we are now 
about to subjoin, is one of an involuntary detachment, and therefore 
the more surprising. 

The late Rev. Jos. Wilkins, dissenting minister at Weymouth, 
dreamed in the early part of his life, a very remarkable dream, which 
he carefully preserved in writing as follows : " One night, soon after I 
was in bed, I fell asleep, and dreamed I was going to London. I 
thought it would not be much out of my way to go through Gloucester- 



NOTE III. 241 

shire, and call upon my friends there. Accordingly I let out, but re- 
membered nothing that happened by the way, till I came to my father's 
house, where I went to the front door, and tried to open it, but found it 
fast. I then went to the back door, which I opened and went in ; but 
finding all the family were in bed, I went across the rooms only, went 
up stairs, and entered the chamber where my father and mother were 
in bed. As I went by that side of the bed in which my father lay, 
I found him asleep, or thought he was so ; then I went to the other 
side, and just turned the foot of the bed. I found my mother awake, 
to whom I said these words, ' Mother, I am going a long journey, and 
I come to bid you good-by.' Upon which she answered me in a fright, 
' O dear son, thou art dead !' With this I awoke, and took no notice 
of it, more than a common dream, only it appeared to me very perfect 
as some dreams will. But in a few days after, as soon as a letter could 
reach me, I received one by post from my father, upon the receipt of 
which I was a little surprised, and concluded something extraordinary 
must have happened, as I had lately had a letter from my friends, and 
all were well. Upon opening it, I was more surprised still, for my 
father addressed me as though I was dead, desiring me if alive, or 
whosoever's hands the letter might fall into, to write immediately ; but 
if the letter should find me living, they concluded I should not live 
long, and gave this as a reason of their fears : — that on such a night, 
naming it, after they were in bed, my father asleep, and my mother 
awake, she heard some one try to open the front door ; but finding it 
fast, he went to the back door, which he opened, came in, and came 
directly through the rooms up stairs, and slie perfectly knew it to be my 
step. 1 came to her bedside and spoke to her these words, « Mother, 
I am going along journey, and am come to bid you good-by;' upon 
which she answered me in a fright, ' O dear son, thou art dead !' which 
were the very words and circumstances of my dream; but she heard 
nothing more, and saw nothing; neither did I in my dream, as it was 
quite dark. Upon this she awoke my father, and told him what had 
passed ; but he endeavored to appease her, by persuading her it was 
only a dream ; she insisted it was no dream, for that she was as per- 
fectly awake as ever she was, and had not the least inclination to sleep 
since she had been in bed. From these circumstances, I am apt to 
think it was the very same instant when my dream happened, though 
the distance between us was a hundred miles ; but of this I can not 
speak positively. This occurred while I was at the academy at ()•- 
tery, Devon, in the year 1754, and at this distance of time, every cir- 
cumstance is still fresh upon my mind. I have since had frequent op- 

21 



242 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

portunities of talking over the affair with my mother, and the whole 
was as fresh upon her mind as it was upon mine. I have often thought 
that her sensations as to this matter were stronger than mine. What 
some may think strange, I can not remember that anything remarkable 
happened hereupon. This is only a plain, simple narrative of a matter 
of fact." 

Mr. Wilkins died the 15th of November, 1800, in the 70th year of 
his age. 

This very remarkable incident may be accounted for on the princi- 
ples laid down by our author, by supposing a natural predisposition in 
the individual to this detachment of the soul, assisted perhaps at the 
time, by accidental physical causes, and that he lay down to sleep full 
of the idea of a journey to London, and the intention of calling at his 
father's house on the way. Hence, when the detachment took place, 
he immediately found himself at his father's house, and naturally tried 
to gain admittance at the front and back door ; but had he been con- 
scious of his state at the time, it would only have required the wish in 
his mind to be in his parents' bed-chamber, and he would have imme- 
diately found himself there. There is, however, another circumstance, 
which according to all material laws, appears unaccountable ; and that 
is, his mother should have heard and recognised his step, as he passed 
along the rooms to her chamber ; for though we may have some idea 
how spirit can act upon material substances, yet it seems to require a col- 
lision of the latter, in order to produce the noise naturally occasioned by 
their striking together, which appears impossible for an immaterial body 
acting upon material substances alone to produce ; and yet the contrary 
was the fact in this case, and the solution must be sought for in those 
amazing powers of the will and imagination, which in our present state 
are so restrained and limited, but which in our disembodied state are 
at full liberty and much more powerful and elevated. The individual, 
supposing himself awake, acted as if he had been so ; and this idea 
alone was sufficient to enable him to appear in his natural shape and 
customary apparel, and in short to produce the effects described. This 
subject will be found more fully developed by our author in the subse- 
quent pages of his work. It leads however to the inference, that in 
connected and striking dreams there may be occasionally more reality 
than the individual himself is aware of. In those that walk in their 
sleep, the natural predisposition to the detachment of the soul is want- 
ing, and hence the whole body is set in motion. 

Stilling, in one of his later publications (Pocket-Book for the Friends 
of Religion, 1814), relates a similar incident, which was communica- 



NOTE III. 243 

ted to him in a letter from Baron Von Suiza, chamberlain to the king 
of Sweden, dated Soderkoping, Dec. 4, 1812. The baron writes as 
follows : — 

" T had been paying a visit to one of my neighbors, on the 24th June, 
1799, and returned home about midnight, at which time it is so light 
in Sweden, in the summer season, that one can see to read the smallest 
print. On arriving at our estate of Dienstdorp, my father met me be- 
fore the gate of the courtyard, in his customary clothes, with a stick 
in his hand, which my brother had ornamented with carved work. It 
was very light, and I saw everything clearly ; I was not afraid, for I 
really believed it was my father. I saluted him, and conversed a long 
time with him. We then went together into the house, and upon the 
level floor into the room ; on entering which, I saw my father quite 
undressed, lying in bed in a profound sleep, and the apparition had dis- 
appeared. He soon awoke, and regarded me with an inquiring look. 
'My dear Edward,' said he, 'God be thanked that I see you again, 
for I was much troubled on your account in a dream ; for it seemed to 
me that you had fallen into the water, and were in danger of drown- 
ing.' I was greatly astonished at finding my father asleep in bed, and 
regarded the apparition as a forerunner of his approaching death; but 
he lived three years after this event. I now told him what had hap- 
pened to me — that he had appeared to me, and that I had spoken with 
him on several subjects: on which he replied that this had often oc- 
curred to him. It is also remarkable, that, having gone to the river 
the same day, with the friend whom I was visiting, in order to catch 
crabs, I was really in danger of falling into the stream. 

"I testify, upon my soul, that all this is truth; and if you publish 
this account, let it be done in my name, for I am not ashamed of con- 
fessing the truth. I know of many occurrences connected with the 
world of spirits, which are so certainly proved that they can not be 
doubted of; and if it will give you pleasure, I will relate them to you. 
We will leave freethinkers to laugh, and the superstitious to be terri- 
fied ; but we know that it is very useful to the inquirer after truth, 
and to the true Christian, to become more intimately acquainted with 
the world of spirits. In former times, people believed too much ; but 
at present, in this dreadful age, everything that bears the name of 
faith is extinguished," cV;c. 

"If any one should suppose," continues Stilling, "that Baron Yon 
Suiza is a follower of Swedenborg, I can assure him that he is not : 
he belongs to no sect or party, and is nothing more than a pious and 
orthodox Lutheran. 



244 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

" This Swedish narrative belongs to that class which proves that the 
inward man, the soul — -which consists of a rational spirit, and an ethe- 
real covering, with which it is closely united — can leave the body for 
a short time, in certain individuals whose organization is disposed for 
it, and then return to it again. I have been railed at, ridiculed, and 
calumniated, on account of the remarkable American tale related in 
my theory ; and yet it is all true, and founded in the nature of man. 
I could adduce a multitude of incontestable proofs. It is one of the 
most remarkable phenomena of the present age, that not only rational- 
ists, believers in natural religion, and free-thinkers, but also occasion- 
ally orthodox Christians, oppose with all their might the narrating of 
such occurrences : they will not even have them spoken of, and on no 
account made public. I here ask — solemnly, boldly, and courage- 
ously, in the presence of God — Why not? If the Lord permits any- 
thing of an uncommon and remarkable nature to present itself to our 
senses, are we not at liberty to inquire what the Governor of nature 
intends uy it ? When stones fall from heaven, or when any novelty 
is discerned in the three kingdoms of nature, or in the sky, or, gener- 
ally speaking, in the material world, with what ardor and with what 
efforts do naturalists labor to come to the bottom of it, and to make 
new discoveries ! and that justly. But as soon as apparitions from the 
supersensible or spiritual world are spoken of, every one is up in arms 
against it; they will neither hear, see, nor refute, but only rail and 
ridicule. What may be the true cause of this incomprehensible con- 
duct? They say, it is in order to prevent superstition from spreading ! 
But is that superstition when I see or sensibly feel something that is 
uncommon, or that is opposed to my rational system, and I am then 
convinced and believe it ? It is then superstition when I abuse such 
appearances, and apply them to something to which they do not 
belong. 

" The true reason, with reference to the professors of the fashion- 
able philosophy of the day, is the conviction that their whole system is 
false, if apparitions of spirits really occur ; and when orthodox Chris- 
tians combat it, the reason is, because it is opposed to the articles of 
faith to which they have subscribed. But ought articles of faith to 
contradict the truth ? 

"It is remarkable that even a celebrated heathen quotes an instance 
of one whose soul left the body for a season and was able to return to 
it again. A very dear and learned friend wrote to me on the 2d June, 
1812, as follows: — 

" ' Before I receive another letter from you, I note down for vou 



NOTE III. 245 

the following passage, relative to the existence of the soul out of the 
body, from Plin. Hist. Nat. vii. 53 ; by which it is to be observer! 
that this Pliny the elder was attached to the Epicurean opinion of the 
dissolution of the soul at death, and consequently was very impartial 
in this case. He says : ' We find among others an instance, that the 
soul of Hermotimus of Clazomene was wont to forsake its body and 
wander about, and, by means of its wanderings, bring intelligence of 
many things at a distance, which none could know but such as were 
present at them, during which his body lay half dead ; until his ene- 
mies (who were called Cantharites) burnt it, and thus cut off the 
retreat of the returning soul.' So far Pliny. 

" What Paul relates in 2 Cor. xii. 2, with reference to his being 
caught up into the third heaven, is also remarkable in this respect ; in 
so doing, he makes use of the words, ' Whether in the body or out of 
the body, I can not tell : God knoweth.' Whence so much is evident, 
that the highly enlightened apostle regarded it at least as possible that 
the soul could leave the body for a season and return to it again. 
Therefore, that which was not objectionable to this planter of Chris- 
tianity among the heathen, ought also not to be so to us. 

" I regard it as highly necessary, in these critical times, to draw 
the attention of the public to such like uncommon and singular phe- 
nomena, in order that they may be upon their guard against the deceit- 
ful signs and wonders which are to be expected in the coming years. 

"It is already bad enough that there are, here and there, persons 
who naturally fall into this state, and mislead many good and pious 
people to the most shocking enthusiasm and fanaticism ; but when 
this dangerous matter is multiplied by art and abused to injurious pur- 
poses, a hell upon earth must arise from it : and what is to be particu- 
larly lamented is the appearance of sanctity that envelops such per- 
sons; so that even true Christians are deceived by it, being dazzled 
by a false light, and, unless the Lord has compassion upon them, are 
plunged into perdition." 

Stilling concludes his observations with the following remarkable 
words : " Verily a time will come when my theory of Pneumatology 
will be brought forth from dusty corners, and I shall be thanked for 
having written it. Dear friends and readers ! I beg of you, for the 
sake of the mercy of God, not to regard me as an enthusiast, who car- 
ries the matter too far; for I speak the words of truth and soberness, 
and time will justify me, even as it has hitherto done. Let us faith- 
fully persevere in watching and prayer; and, whatever may happen, 
we shall be safe." 

21* 



246 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

NOTE IV.— Page 51. 

The account given by M. Nicolai of the appearances he saw while 
in a state of indisposition, is so remarkable, that we here insert it, as a 
striking evidence of the effects of a physically-disordered imagination. 
His statement is as follows : — 

" During the latter ten months of the year 1790, I had experienced 
several melancholy events, which deeply affected me, particularly in 
September, from which time I suffered an almost uninterrupted series 
of misfortunes, which afflicted me with the most poignant grief. I 
was accustomed to be bled twice a-year ; this had been done on the 
9th of July, but was omitted to be repeated at the end of the year. 
Less blood had consequently been evacuated in 1790 than was usual 
with me ; and from September I was constantly occupied in business 
which required the most unremitted exertion, and which was rendered. 
still more perplexing by frequent interruptions. 

"In January and February of the year 1791, I had the additional 
misfortune to experience several unpleasant circumstances, which were 
followed, on the 24th February, by a most violent altercation. My 
wife and another person came into my apartment, at ten o'clock in the 
morning, in order to console me ; but I was too much agitated, by a 
series of incidents which had most powerfully affected my moral feel- 
ings, to be capable of attending to them. On a sudden I perceived, at 
the distance of about ten paces, a form like that of a deceased person. 
I pointed at it, asking my wife whether she did not see it. It was 
but natural that she should not see anything: my question, therefore, 
alarmed her much, and she sent directly for a physician. The phan- 
tasm continued about eight minutes. I grew at length more calm, 
and, being extremely exhausted, fell into a restless slumber, which 
lasted about half an hour. The physician ascribed the apparition to 
violent mental excitement, and hoped there would be no return ; but 
the violent agitation of my mind had in some way disordered my 
nerves and produced further consequences, which deserve a more 
minute description. 

" At four o'clock in the afternoon, the form which I had seen in the 
morning reappeared. I was by myself when this happened, and being 
rather uneasy at the incident, went to my wife's apartment ; but there, 
likewise, I was followed by the apparition, which, however, disap- 
peared at intervals, and always presented itself in a standing posture. 
About six o'clock, there appeared also several walking figures, which 
had no connection with the first. 



-VOTE IV. 

• • I can not assign any other eau^e for all this than a continued r o 
nation on the vexations I had endured, which, though calmer, I could 
not forget, and the consequences of which I meditated to counteract. 
These agitations occupied my mind three hours after dinner, just when 

» -:ion commenced. I consoled myself, at length, with respecl 
the disagreeable incident which had occasioned the r 
but the phantasms continued to increase and change in the most singu- 
lar manner, though I had taken the proper medici: found 
:ry ; r'.: ; frre ::"y ---"."_. 

•• When the first terror was over, as I beheld these phantr.; 
out great emotion, while taking them for what they really were — 
remarkable consequences of an indisposition — I endeavored to collect 
If as much as possible, that I might preserve a clear con- piea 
of the changes that should inwardly take place in me. I observed 
these phantasms very closely, and frequently reflected on c. 
dent thoughts, to discover, if possible. has ass 

of ideas exactly these forms presented themselves to my imag 
I thought at times I had found a clew ; bnt. taking the whole 

■'..d not make out any natural connection 
mind, my occupations, train of thoughts, and the multifarious forms 
which now appeared to me and then again disappear r repeated 

and close observations, and a calm examination, I was unable to form 
; jnclusion relative to the origin and duration of the different phan- 
tasms which presented themselves to me. All that I could infer 
that while my nervous system was in such an irregular sta 
phantasms would appear to me as if I actuu J heard them ; 

that these illusions were not modified by any known laws of reason, 
imagination, or the common association of ideas : and that probably 
other people, who may have had similar apparitions, were exact! 

-ime predicament. The origin of the individual forms which ap- 
peared to me was, undoubtedly, founded on the my mind ; 
but the manner in which it was thus affected, will probably remain as 
inscrutable as the origin of thought and reflection. 

er the first day, the form of the decease ^er ap- 

peared, but in its place many other phantasms, sometimes representing 
acquaintances, but most". _ whom I knew con? 

of both living and deceased persons, but the number of the latter 
comparatively small. I observed that persons with whom I 
conversed did not appear to me as phantasms, these representing 

::y persons who lived at some distance from me. I attempt 
produce, at pleasure, phantasm* of persons whom I knew. » 



248 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

tively reflecting on their countenance, shape, &c. ; but distinctly as I 
recalled to my lively imagination the respective shapes of these per- 
sons, I still labored in vain to make them appear to me as phantasms, 
though I had before involuntarily seen them in that manner, and per- 
ceived them some time after, when I least thought of them. These 
phantasms appeared to me, contrary to .my inclination, as if they were 
presented to me from without, like the phenomena of nature, though 
they existed nowhere but within my mind. I could at the same time 
plainly distinguish between phantasms and real objects; and the calm- 
ness with which I examined them enabled me to avoid committing the 
smallest mistake. I knew exactly when it only appeared to me that 
the door was opening, and a phantasm entering the room, and when it 
actually opened and a real person entered. 

" These phantasms appeared to me equally clear and distinct at all 
times and under all circumstances — both when I was alone and when 
I was in company, as well in the day as at night, and in my own house 
as well as abroad. They were, however, less frequent when I was in 
the house of a friend, and rarely appeared to me in the street. When 
I shut my eyes, these phantasms would sometimes disappear entirely, 
though there were instances when I beheld them with my eyes closed : 
yet, when they disappeared on such occasions, they generally reap- 
peared when I again opened my eyes. I conversed occasionally with 
the physician and my wife respecting the phantasms which surrounded 
me at the moment. They appeared more frequently walking than at 
rest, nor were they constantly present. They frequently did not ap- 
pear for some time, but always reappeared for a longer or a shorter 
period, either singly or in company : the latter, however, was most 
often the case. 

"I generally saw human forms of both sexes; but they usually 
seemed not to take the smallest notice of each other, moving as in a 
market-place, where all are eager to press through a crowd. At 
times, however, they seemed to be transacting business with each 
other. I also repeatedly saw people on horseback, dogs, and birds. 
All those phantasms appeared to me in their natural size, and as dis- 
tinct as if alive, exhibiting different shades of carnation in the uncov- 
ered parts, as well as different colors and fashions in their dress, 
though the colors seemed to me somewhat paler than in real nature. 
None of the figures appeared particularly terrible, comical, or disgust- 
ing; most of them being of an indifferent shape, and some having a 
pleasing appearance. The longer these phantasms continued to ap- 



NOTE IV. 249 

pear, the more frequently did they return, while at the same time 
they increased in number. 

" About four weeks after their first appearance, I began also to hear 
them speak. They sometimes conversed among themselves, but more 
frequently they directed their discourse to me. Their speeches were 
commonly short, and never of an unpleasant tenor. Several times I 
saw beloved and sensible friends of both sexes, whose addresses tended 
to appease my grief, which had not wholly subsided. These consol- 
atory speeches were in general addressed to me when I was alone : 
sometimes, however, I was accosted by these consoling friends while 
in company — even while real persons were speaking to me. These 
consolatory addresses consisted sometimes of abrupt phrases, and at 
others they were regularly connected. 

11 Though both my mind and body were in a tolerable state of sanity 
at this time, and these phantasms became so familiar to me, that they 
did not cause me the slightest uneasiness : I even sometimes amused 
myself with surveying them, and spoke jocularly of them to the phy- 
sician and my wife ; yet I did not neglect to use proper medicines, 
especially when they began to haunt me the whole day, and even at 
night as soon as I awoke. 

"At last it was agreed that leeches should be again applied to me, 
as formerly, which was accordingly done on the 20th April, 1791, at 
eleven o'clock in the morning. No one was with me besides the sur- 
geon, but during the operation my chamber was crowded with human 
phantasms of all descriptions. This continued without interruption, 
till about half-past four, just when my digestion commenced. T then 
perceived that they began to move more slowly ; soon after, their col- 
ors began to fade ; and at seven o'clock they were entirely white, and 
moved very little, though the forms were as distinct as before, grow- 
ing, however, by degrees more obscure, yet not fewer in number, as 
had generally been the case. The phantasms did not withdraw, nor 
did they vanish, which previous to that time had frequently occurred. 
They now seemed to dissolve in the air, while fragments of some of 
them continued visible a considerable time. About eight o'clock the 
room was entirely cleared of my fantastic visiters. 

tk Since that period, I have felt, twice or three times, a sensation as 
if these phantasms were going to reappear, without, however, actually 
seeing anything. The same sensation surprised me just before I drew 
up this account, while 1 was examining some papers relative to these 
apparitions which I had drawn up in the year 1791." 



250 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

NOTE V.— Page 8.* 

The doctrine here advanced by our author will be, doubtless, new 
and strange to many, from its not forming part of any protestant creed, 
nor being ever brought forward in an English pulpit. It is, however, 
clearly contained in the Holy Scriptures, although all our protestant 
translators, with one accord, have studiously avoided every expression 
in their versions which could betray or give countenance to it. Yet it 
is a subject of so much importance, with reference to the real state of 
every individual after leaving this world, that it is deserving of the 
most rigid and candid investigation ; for if it be found to be correct 
and scriptural, the views that are generally entertained of the future 
state of the soul will be proved to be false and ill-founded. We 
therefore subjoin the whole of our author's defence of this doctrine, 
extracted from his apology for the present work, occasioned by its 
being prohibited by the council of Basle, and also in the kingdom of 
Wirtemberg, where every copy of it was ordered to be delivered up. 

" There is no need of the Bible, nor of a divine revelation, to prove, 
and even mathematically demonstrate, that the earth is hollow within, 
or contains a spacious concavity, which is obvious, if we consider, that, 
at the creation, the earth was first of all a 'Thohu vapolui^ a waste 
and void mass of earth and water, deeply covered with the latter 
(Gen. i. 2). In this state it did not revolve upon its axis, consequently 
all the heavier parts sunk toward the centre. The heaviest substances, 

* We are satisiied that there is a great scriptural and philosophical truth involved 
in the author's argument, in the present note, in regard to an intermediate state ; 
while, at the same time, we much more than distrust the soundness of his interpreta- 
tion of many passages of the Sacred Oracles which he adduces in its support. If 
they have any application at all to the point in question, we must still say of sev- 
eral of them, that the reference is so remote and inappreciable that nothing but a 
superstructure of fancy can be built upon them. This remark holds especially of 
all those which he regards as implying a locality in the centre of the earth, whither 
recent souls, on their departure from the body, are consigned, in order there to 
undergo the purifying process of which he speaks. On his own principles, it is 
difficult to conceive what relation an immaterial spirit can have to any determinate 
region of space, since the mind is itself its own heaven or hell. The true idea to 
be formed on this head is an idea of state, and not of place. Hades is properly the 
name given to the state intermediate, not between death and a fancied resurrec- 
tion and judgment at the end of the world, but between heaven and hell, where 
the dominantly evil come into the sphere of influences which gradually divest 
them of all good and prepare for them hell ; and where the dominantly good, in like 
manner, lay aside their remaining evils and become qualified for admission to the 
interior joys of heaven. But all this is wholly independent of locality.— E o. 



NOTE V. 251 

stone and earth, were there ; the lighter — for instance, water — above, 
upon the circumference. The earth then began to move like a wheel 
upon its axis. Now, every one who is acquainted with the great Sir 
Isaac Newton's theory of the universe, or has ever attended lectures 
on physiology, must know that all masses — consisting of solid and 
fluid, light and heavy materials, as is the case with this earth! v 
globe — as soon as they receive a rotatory motion and revolve rapidly, 
must experience a total change ; for by this revolution all substances 
receive a centrifugal power, in proportion to the weight of the revolv- 
ing mass, but which continues to decrease with their distance from the 
centre, till it stands in equal proportion to the centripetal force. On 
this account the heaviest parts of the earth, such as rocks, mountains, 
and the various kinds of earth, must remove the furthest from the 
centre, and form the outermost shell and the bottom of the sea ; below 
this outer rind is water, perhaps also continents, in some places islands, 
then dense atmospheric air; still nearer to the centre, a more refined 
atmosphere ; and in the centre of the earth, probably a dark ball of 
fire. This is so physically just that no scientific person can doubt of 
it ; for the revolution of the earth is so rapid, that under the equator 
it is equal to about two hundred and twenty-five German miles (one 
thousand English) per hour, and with us about one hundred and fifty, 
such miles, because we are from forty to forty-one degrees nearer the 
north pole : that is, from the place in which I am at present, I advance 
in one hour, with all the objects that surround me, on the earth's sur- 
face one hundred and fifty German miles in an easterly direction. 
But if the progress of the earth round the sun be added to the calcula- 
tion, it will amount to perhaps several thousand miles. An astronomer 
will fully understand me, and testify that what I say is true and 
according to nature. This rapid revolution renders it impossible for 
any heavy substances to remain in the vicinity of the earth's centre : 
they must all fly off from it in proportion to their gravity ; and those 
bodies which have the least solidity, such as fire and the particles of 
light, assume an orbicular shape in the midst. We do not need a 
divine revelation to be assured of this, but merely a physical and 
cosmological knowledge. 

I certainly can not prove from physiology and cosmogony, that hell 
and hades are in this inward concavity of the earth, and that the latter 
extends, through the shell of the earth and through our atmosphere, 
up to heaven above, in pure ether, to the residence of the blest. But 
we will see what the Bible says of it. 

In Proverbs v. 5, it is said, "Her feet [those of a meretricious 



252 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

woman] hasten down unto death : her steps take hold on sheol." The 
Septuagint here translates the Hebrew sheol by the Greek word hades. 
Both signify the gloomy, silent receptacle of the dead, and not always, 
but rather very seldom, hell. Luther (as well as our English trans- 
lators) translated both words almost always "hell," and at other times 
" grave ;" but this is not correct and causes mistakes. In the passage 
quoted above, it signifies the place of torment in hades, which we call 
"hell." The word "down" shows that this melancholy abode is 
deep in the earth. 

Further, Isaiah v. 14 : " Therefore [because the Israelites had car- 
ried their transgressions to such an excess], sheol [the Septuagint again 
translates hades] hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without 
measure ; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he 
that rejoiceth shall descend into it." 

There is no doubt that here the place of torment in hades, or hell, 
is meant, and that this is deep in the earth. 

Again, we find in Isaiah xiv. 9-19, a passage which belongs to the 
most awfully sublime of the whole Bible. I will translate it very 
minutely and subjoin it : — 

Verse 9 : " Sheol in the deep was excited on thy account to go 
forth to meet thee when thou earnest. For sake of thee, the giant3 
were awakened ; all the goats of the earth, and caused that all the 
kings of the heathen, rose up from their seats." 

The subject here is that great and cruel conqueror, the king of 
Babylon, and his reception in sheol, or hades. It is beyond a doubt 
that here again the place of the damned in hades is meant ; and that 
this place is below, in the depth of the earth. 

Verse 10 : " They all together [the giants, the goats, and the kings 
of the heathen] begin and say unto thee, Thou art become impotent 
as we ; thou art become like unto us." 

Verse 11 : "Thy loftiness is cast down into sheol, with the sound 
of thy lute : worms shall now become thy couch, and worms shall 
be thy covering." 

This has probably reference to the corruption of his body in the 
grave. 

Verse 12: "How art thou fallen from heaven, thou brilliant star! 
thou son of the morning ! Thou art cut down to the ground, thou 
that didst weaken the princes of the people." 

Verse 13 : " Yet thou though test in thine heart, I will ascend up 
to heaven ; I will elevate my throne above the stars of God ; yea, I 
will set myself on the mount of assembly, on the sides of the north." 



NOTE V. 253 

That is, thou didst intend to prepare thee a seat on the north side 
of the temple at Jerusalem, where afterward Fort Antonia was 
erected, which commanded the temple. 

Verse 14: " I will ascend up to the heights of the thick clouds, 
and make myself equal to the Most High." 

Verse 15 : " Yet hast thou been cast down into sheol, to the sides 
of the pit." 

These words, " to the sides of the pit," are literally translated from 
the Hebrew ; for fa vot bt*, ell jarkethei bor, mean ad lalera forete. 
The Septuagint, however, says, els rfi Qe/xeXia rfc yrjs, into the founda- 
tions, the bottom, the deepest place of the earth; and this is also really 
the proper sense of the words : the king of Babylon was to be brought 
down into the deepest place of the earth's concavity — into sheol — 
that is, into its centre. 

Verse 16 : " Those that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, 
consider thee, and say, Is this the man that made the earth to trem- 
ble and the kingdoms to quake ?" 

Verse 17 : " That made the earth a desert, and demolished its 
cities; that suffered not his prisoners to go home?" 

Verse 18 : " All the kings of the heathen together repose in honor, 
every one in his house." 

Verse 19 : " But thou art cast out of thy grave, like an abominable 
branch," &c. 

Now, can any one still doubt whether the Bible contains what I 
have asserted, that the earth is inwardly hollow, and that hell is in 
the midst of it ? 

Although it be superfluous, yet I will here quote some additional 
passages. In Job xi. 8, Zophar says, " He [that is, God] is higher 
than the heaven ; what wilt thou do? Deeper than sheol, what canst 
thou know ?" 

Chap. xxvi. 6 : " Sheol is uncovered before him" (God). And 
David says in the 139th Psalm, 8th verse : " If I ascend up to heaven, 
thou art there ; if I make my bed in sheol, there thou art also." 

But that sheol, or hades, contains not only the place of the damned, 
but is also the receptacle of all departed souls — or rather was so till 
Christ proclaimed to the Old Testament saints, the day after his cru- 
cifixion, their redemption, and conducted them in triumph over death 
and sheol to his glory — is proved by the following passages: — 

In Genesis xxxvii. 35, the patriarch Jacob says to his children, who 
sought to comfort him, on the (supposed) death of his son Joseph, M I 
shall go down with sorrow into sheol to my son." There enn be no 

22 



254 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

reference here to the grave, for he believed that Joseph was devoured 
by wild beasts ; and equally as little to hell, for Jacob and Joseph did 
not belong there : he speaks, therefore, of the receptacle of the dead 
(hades), where the pious were also obliged to wait, though in a state 
of rest and inward peace, for their eventual salvation. 

Job, the patient sufferer, says (chap. xvii. 13) : " Though I wait 
long, yet is sheol [hades] my house, and my bed is made in darkness." 
That is, my soul shall abide in hades, and my body rest in the gloomy 
grave. Job went not to hell, and consequently it means the place of 
rest in hades. 

Again, in Psalm Ixxxix. 49 : " Who is there that liveth and shall 
not see death ? Who can deliver his soul from the hand of sheol ?" 

That is, every one must die ; nor can any soul withdraw itself from 
hades : thither all the pious as well as the impious must go ; but with 
this great difference, that the former depart to a blissful state of rest, 
the latter to eternal torment. 

Further, Eccles. ix. 10 : " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
with all thy might ; for in sheol, whither thou art going, there is nei- 
ther work, nor device, nor reflection, nor wisdom." 

That is, do here what is incumbent upon thee without delay : for 
beneath, in sheol, or hades, thou canst no longer do anything; there 
everything is wanting. 

And in Isaiah xxxviii. 10, King Hezekiah complains in his sickness 
and says: " Now must I descend to the gates of sheol." Hezekiah 
was a pious king, and the place of the damned can not here be meant. 

Let it always be observed, that the Hebrew word sheol, and the 
Greek term hades, have the same meaning, and signify the receptacle 
of departed spirits. 

These are the testimonies of the Old Testament : let us now also 
examine what the New Testament says on this subject. In this part 
of the Bible, which is written in Greek, the Hebrew word " sheol" no 
longer occurs ; but its equivalent, "hades." Here it is particularly 
remarkable, that the place of torment in hades is generally called 
" gehenna," as will be found in the sequel. The Greek word geenna, 
or gehenna, comes from the Hebrew Ge Hinnom, the valley of Hin- 
nom. This valley, which lies to the south of Jerusalem, divided 
Mount Zion from Mount Gihon. During the period of the idolatry 
of the Israelites, children were burnt in it, at a place called Tophet, 
in honor of Moloch : this made this valley a place of horror and ab- 
horrence, and afterward an emblem of the place of torment in hades. 
This is what is properly called hell. 



NOTE V. 255 

Christ says, in Malt. xvi. 8 : " Thou art Peter, and on this rock 
will I build ray church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail 
against it." 

That is, the church which Peter founded at Jerusalem on the first 
day of Pentecost, and in the following days, shall not be overcome b} r 
all those that go in and out of the gates of hades ; and these are 
wicked angels and the souls of men. This is an incontestable proof 
that the real followers of Christ have to strive against the world of 
spirits, as is also certain and evident from Ephesians vi. 

Our Lord says, in Luke x. 15: "And thou, Capernaum, that art 
exalted to heaven, thou shalt be cast down into hades." This is a 
metaphor, and signifies that Capernaum was a flourishing city, which 
had, besides, the unspeakable happiness of being the frequent resi- 
dence of the Redeemer of the world ; but should be cast down into 
the abyss of misery, on account of its evil doings. By the way, it is 
evident that Christ, who is Truth itself, places hades in the depth of 
the earth. 

Remarkable, and suitable to my purpose, is the passage in Luke 
xvi. 24. Christ here says of the rich man : " And in hades he lifted 
up his eyes, being in torment." But of this parable I shall be obliged 
to speak in the sequel. 

The word " gehenna" occurs in the following passages : — 

Matt. v. 22: "But he that says, Thou fool! shall be in danger of 
the fire of gehenna." Ver. 29, 30 : "It is better that one of thy mem- 
bers perish, than that thy whole body be cast into gehenna." Chap. 
x\iii. 15: " Wo unto you, Scribes and Pharisees! you make prose- 
lytes, and afterward sons of gehenna of them." Verse 33 : "Ye gen- 
eration of vipers, how will ye escape the judgment of gehenna?" <x"c. 
The apostle James says of the tongue, that " it is set on fire of 
gehenna." 

It seems probable to me, that by the fiery gehenna must be under- 
stood the place of torment in sheol, or hades, which is in the centre of 
the earth. But I hasten further. 

I have now proved that hades commences at. the concavity of the 
earth, and have still to show that it extends through the outer shell, 
and through the atmosphere, up to pure ether, and borders on the 
abode of the blest; that is, on heaven. Many places testify that this 
abode of the blest is on high, in heaven ; and no one doubts that ( 'hrist 
was lifted up in a cloud and ascended to heaven. I can not. however, 
prove from the Bible that the space which extends from the gehenna, 
in the centre of the earth, up to the heaven of the blest, is occupied by 



256 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

"hades; yet I could prove it from the testimony of souls that have 
reappeared after death, and from the testimony of magnetized and 
other persons, who all agree in it ; but these testimonies would not be 
received. It is unpleasant for me that I dare not prove it, because 
some family or other would always be placed in a painful situation 
by so doing: and therefore they are not willing that such things 
should be made public : otherwise I could adduce official documents 
respecting several apparitions, which were in reality strictly investi- 
gated, and the apparitions found to be true. But if hell and the 
damned be in the centre of the earth, and heaven with its blest inhab- 
itants be above in ether, it is only credible that the space between 
both extremes is filled with souls, which are nearer to trie one or the 
other extreme, according to the degree of their morality, virtue, and 
piety. And, generally speaking, this is not a point that can have any 
influence on the actions of men, and is, therefore, a matter of perfect 
indifference. 

TsTo one who is acquainted with the subject will deny that my doc- 
trine of hades, or a purification after death, was the general doctrine 
of the Christian religion or the Universal Church, from the first period 
of the church down to the Reformation. But when the Romish 
church afterward made a purgatory of it, from which any one could 
be released by masses for his soul, which were dearly paid for, the 
reformers were quite in the right in banishing purgatory from their 
creed ; but they ought to have retained the doctrine of the primitive 
churches, of the continued operation of Christ's work of redemption 
after death. This I shall afterward prove. 

The passages that are adduced to show that the wicked after death 
go immediately to hell, and the righteous to heaven, and that, conse- 
quently, there is no intermediate state, are the following : — 

The first I will mention is the beautiful and instructive parable of 
the rich man, in Luke xvi. 19-31. Our Lord here relates, that 
Lazarus died, and was carried by angels (mark!) into Abraham's 
bosom : that is, into the place of rest and peace in sheol, or hades, 
where Abraham with all the Old Testament saints abode, as I have 
already copiously proved. The rich man also died and was buried. 
The Lord now expresses himself verbatim as follows : " And in hades 
he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, 
and Lazarus in his bosom," &c. 

The rich man was, therefore, in the place of torment in hades, and 
Abraham likewise in hades, but at a great distance from the rich man, 
and in a state of blessedness ; and thus he was perceived by the rich 



NOTE V. 257 

man on lifting up his eyes. Abraham's abode was therefore much 
higher; which is again a hint that hades ascends upward out of the 
earth. The poor wretch now begged for some alleviation of his 
misery ; but this the patriarch mildly refused, and added the excuse 
that there was between them a great gulf — x ,i(7 l JLa /^y a > hiatus mag- 
nus — which could not be passed from any quarter, &c. 

It does not follow at all from this parable, that departed souls pass 
immediately after death to the place of their final destination — either 
heaven or hell — for both were in hades, only at a great distance from 
each other. But now, after the ascension of Christ, after he has 
taken possession of the kingdom, and prepared the mansions for his 
people, all the saints of the Old Testament are with him ; and all 
those that die in true faith in him, and who are redeemed and puri- 
fied by his blood, come not into condemnation, but instantaneously 
enter into the joy of their Lord : as I have stated at length in all my 
writings, whenever this subject was treated of. I have never denied 
that rewards and punishments commence immediately after death ; at 
present, we are only treating of the places, heaven, hades, and hell. 

The instance of the penitent thief — to whom Christ said, " Verily, 
verily, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise" — is also brought 
forward against this doctrine, and is intended to prove that the thief, 
immediately after death, entered into the real heaven, the mansion of 
the blest, and enjoyed the vision of God. But this is incorrect : he 
went where Christ also went the same day, immediately after death — 
to hades — to the place of rest and peace, where the fathers of the 
ancient covenant abode. The Jews, in the time of Christ, called this 
place "paradise," even as they called the place of torment in hades, 
"gehenna." It is evident that, by the term paradise, Christ did not 
understand the first heaven, in which is the throne of God, from what 
he said to Mary of Magdala after his resurrection (John xx. 17) : "I 
am not yet ascended to my Father," &c. Therefore, when Christ 
said to the thief, " To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," seeing 
that after his resurrection he was still not in heaven, but had descended 
into the lowest parts of the earth (E plies, iv. 8), consequently into 
hades, it naturally follows that the thief accompanied him thither, and 
was there prepared for full felicity. Paul was also caught up into 
paradise (2 Cor. xii.), where he heard unspeakable words: he calls it 
the third heaven — consequently, it was not the first — where the vision 
of God is enjoyed. Finally, Christ also mentions paradise in Rev. ii. 
7. Those that overcome of the Ephesian Church shall eat of the fruit 
of the tree of life in paradise. Those of Smyrna shall be delivered 



258 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

from the second death. They of Pergamos shall eat of the hidden 
manna. The Thyatirans obtain power over the heathen. The Sar- 
dians wear white priestly garments. The Philadelphians are made 
pillars in the temple of God ; and the Laodicean conquerors shall even 
sit on the throne of the Father and the Son, upon the throne of all 
worlds. Observe this important gradation : as the church militant, from 
the apostles' time downward, increases in inward strength and illumina- 
tion (I mean with reference to true believers), and as the conflict with 
the kingdom of darkness becomes more difficult, the greater will he 
the reward of the victors. Eating of the fruit of the tree of life in 
paradise is something much inferior to wearing white priestly garments, 
or being pillars in the temple of God, or sitting with Christ upon the 
throne of all worlds. Consequently, paradise is the outer court of 
heaven, the eternal morning. Oh, happy he who obtains even this 
region for his abode ! 

Another passage is that in Rev. xiv. 13: "Blessed are the dead 
that die in the Lord, from henceforth." But this is not at all appli- 
cable, as I have stated in my theory, and as I have also observed 
above, that the souls of the righteous are, at death, immediately 
received by angels and conducted to the regions of bliss. 

Besides, I must also mention, that the passage in question has by no 
means the sense which is generally attached to it ; but its meaning is, 
From the time of these great troubles, which are announced, from 
henceforth, blessed are those that die in the Lord ; for they are taken 
away from the evil to come ; they enter into peace, and their works 
follow them. 

There are some who can not comprehend how it is possible that a 
soul can continue for centuries in hades, without advancing further : 
as, for instance, the White Lady, who must now have wandered about 
for three and a half centuries. 

In reply, I ask if it be more easy to comprehend how the great mul- 
titude of civilly good, honest individuals, who have troubled them- 
selves little about Christ and his religion during their lives, and only 
practised its outward rites because others did so ; that these, after 
death, should be immediately condemned to the endless torments of 
hell ? Into heaven, the kingdom of love and humility, they can not 
possibly enter. Whither, then, shall they go ? How can the God of 
love, of infinite love, who is willing that all men should be saved, permit 
that mankind, because of the neglect of a span's length of time, should 
be tormented infinitely, to all eternity ? The case is different with 
daring and wicked sinners, who heap up one vice upon another. 



NOTE V. 259 

This middle class of men, who are neither fit for heaven nor hell, 
ought to take serious warning from the White Lady and others in a 
similar situation, together with all that is appalling in hades, in order 
that they may repent and be converted : for although they are not 
referred to these things as the means of conversion which are provided 
by religion, yet still they may, at the same time, derive benefit from 
them. 

I conclude this subject with adverting to a few more passages, which 
are supposed to controvert the doctrine of an intermediate state. 
These are — Heb. ix. 27: "It is appointed unto men once to die 
[not frequently], and after that [f*era ii rov-ro] the judgment." — "Thus 
Christ was once offered," Sec. "He shall appear the second time to 
punish and reward" — that is, to judgment. Here there is not a word 
said about judgment immediately following death; but the sense is 
this : " as man has two important epochs, in which his eternal destiny 
is decided — that is, his departure from this world, and the last judg- 
ment — so Christ has also his two epochs, his mediatorial death on the 
cross, and his majestic return to judge the living and the dead. In 
other respects, hades, as a place of amendment and purification, is 
truly a heavy judgment upon a soul that has here neglected its 
salvation !" 

It seems almost superfluous to add anything to these clear and con- 
clusive, scriptural and rational, proofs of the existence of an interme- 
diate state between heaven and hell, which is the abode of multitudes — 
between the death of the body and the last judgment : particularly as 
it is a subject upon which some of the most celebrated divines of 
various persuasions in our own country agree, and is so pointedly con- 
firmed by every authentic apparition of departed spirits. We may, 
however, be allowed to observe, what every schoolboy is acquainted 
with, that, in the Grecian and Roman mythology, by the term hades 
was understood the state into which every soul entered immediately 
after leaving this world, before it was called up to judgment to receive 
its final destination, either to Tartarus or the Elysian fields. Thus 
the idea which these heathen nations had of it, strikingly corresponds 
with that which is given of it in this work. It is also notorious, that, 
even to the present day, the Jews understand by s)uol a place of 
purification, through which they all must pass, and continue there a 
year and a day, according to their superstitious notions, before they 
can be admitted into paradise. It is, therefore, very obvious that 
these words must have been used by the sacred writers in the sense 



260 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

abovementioned, and not to imply a place of everlasting torment, or 
merely the burial-place of the body, as the present versions of scrip- 
ture lead the reader to suppose. 

The point being, therefore, thus clearly established, the inferences 
to be drawn from it will be found to be most solemn and important. 

I. It rectifies our views with regard to a future state. 

There is scarcely an individual to be found, however profligate mey 
have been his life, and however multiplied his transgressions (unless 
under the horrors of a guilty conscience), who believes himself worthy 
of hell, and who does not pacify his mind with the idea of the mercy 
of God, and the hope of some happier state after death. And this is 
more especially the case with those who, though they are destitute 
of real religion, have not to reproach themselves with any gross vices, 
or have perhaps laid them aside, when more advanced in years, and 
look upon them in the light of youthful follies and juvenile indiscre- 
tions. They can not conceive that they have committed any crime 
of such enormity as to subject themselves to everlasting torment; and 
being ignorant of any other state than heaven and hell, naturally per- 
suade themselves that at death they will be received into the former, 
however unfit for it they may be in reality ; which belief, it is to be 
feared, tends much to confirm them in this awful delusion. And 
finally there are others, who, having been awakened and partially 
converted, make themselves sure, and are assured by others, that 
when they leave this world, the highest honors, and dignities, and 
glories of heaven, await them, though many a secret lust and sensual 
desire still predominates in their souls, which they fondly, but vainty, 
expect to lay aside with their bodies. All these characters may here 
learn what will be their real state and situation after death, if they 
continue in their present condition ; for the whole of what has been 
said upon the subject of hades in this book, and the apparitions of 
which it gives an account, are a pointed and practical comment upon 
those solemn words, " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 

II. It justifies the dealings of God with his creatures. 

The skeptic and the irreligionist can never be brought to believe 
the existence of a place of torment, according to the view generally 
given of it, being unable to reconcile it with their ideas either of the 
mercy or justice of God ; and it is, therefore, to them a constant 
stumbling-block : while the injudicious reference so frequently made 
by some to the torments of the damned, against whom they include 
all who are not exactly of their own opinion in matters of faith, only 
excites their derision and contempt. But no candid inquirer after truth 






NOTE V. 261 

can refuse his assent to the self-evident proposition, that according as 
a man has lived in this world will be his state in the next ; that if he 
has here neglected and rejected the light and grace of God so freely 
offered him in the gospel, he will naturally and necessarily be deprived 
of them after death, and reap the fruit of his sensual and godless life 
in the utter destitution of holiness and consequent blessedness hereaf- 
ter. It is here also clearly evident that not the mere outward fulfil- 
ment of any acts of devotion, nor any set of religious notions and 
opinions, with whatever name they may be dignified, nor however 
orthodox and scriptural they may be, will be of any avail, except in 
so far as they have produced a change of heart and have influenced the 
man's life and conduct. " What a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap." Such is the righteous decision of the just and infallible Judge. 
The degree of our happiness or misery, after death, will be in exact 
correspondence with our state of spiritual or worldly mindedness on 
leaving this world. 

III. It furnishes a most powerful incitement to a religious life, and 
to increasing diligence in the path of holiness. 

There are those who affirm that the open promulgation of such a 
doctrine would produce an effect precisely the reverse, and tend to 
encourage men to continue at a distance from God, and in the enjoy- 
ment of the pleasures of the world. But the writer of this note must 
say, from his own experience, that the more he has investigated the 
subject, the more deeply has he felt the infinite importance of eternal 
things, and the necessity of making them the chief object of his 
thoughts, desires, and pursuits, if by any means he may enter here 
into that rest which remaineth for the people of God, and at death 
be found worthy, through grace, of being immediately received into 
those mansions of peace and blessedness which Christ has prepared 
for them that love him. He does not, however, deny that there may 
be some who would pervert this doctrine to their own destruction ; but 
this has been the case with the truths of Scripture in every age, and 
still takes place, even in those who know of no other state awaiting 
them than that of eternal misery. Such characters he would, how- 
ever, affectionately warn, not to heap up to themselves wrath against 
the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of Cnu\ ; 
but let the serious consideration of this subject induce them to " sick 
the Savior while he may be found, and to call upon him while he is 
near; and, by forsaking their wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, 
return unto the Lord, that he may have mercy upon them, and to our 
God, that he may abundantly pardon them." 



262 PNEUMATOLOGY. 



NOTE VI.— Page 55. 

In Selling's " Pocket-Book for the Friends of Religion," 1809, this 
anecdote is related more circumstantially. He says : — 

"I am acquainted with a Russian gentleman of rank, who fills a 
respectable office, but is at the same time a highly-enlightened Chris- 
tian, and, generally speaking, an excellent man. This gentleman told 
me that he was well acquainted, and on intimate terms, with the Rus- 
sian embassador, who resided many years at Stockholm, during Swe- 
denborg's time. This embassador and Swedenborg often met together; 
he had often seen the latter in his trances, and had learned wonderful 
things from him. The manner in which Swedenborg assisted a certain 
widow to find her receipt, and regarding which he has been accused 
of deception, took place in reality as follows : A respectable man in 
Stockholm bought an estate of another, paid for it, and received an 
acknowledgment. The purchaser died soon after; and a long time 
had not elapsed before the seller demanded payment of the widow for 
the estate, threatening her that he would otherwise take possession of 
it again. The widow was terrified ; she knew that her husband had 
paid for the estate, and made search for the receipt, which, however, 
she was unable to find anywhere. This greatly increased her fright; 
and as her deceased husband had been on friendly terms with the Rus- 
sian embassador, she had recourse to him. 

" The embassador knew from experience what assistance Sweden- 
borg had occasionally afforded in such cases ; and as the widow was 
not known to him, the embassador undertook the matter. He spoke, 
therefore, with Swedenborg, the first opportunity, and recommended 
the cause of the widow to him. Some days after, Swedenborg came 
to the embassador, and requested him to tell the widow, that on such a 
night her husband would appear to her at twelve o'clock, and would 
tell her where the receipt lay. However terrible this might seem to the 
widow, yet she was obliged to consent to it, because the paying for the 
estate a second time would have rendered her poor, or would even 
have been impracticable to her. She, therefore, resigned herself to 
her fate, sat up on the night appointed, and retained a chambermaid 
with her, who, however, soon began to fall asleep, and could by no 
means be kept awake. At twelve o'clock the deceased appeared. He 
looked grave, and as though displeased ; and then pointed out to the 
widow the place where the receipt lay, namely, in a certain room, in 
a little desk attached to the wall; on which he disappeared. The 



NOTES VII.. VIII. 263 

widow went the next morning to the place he had indicated, and found 
the receipt." 

Another anecdote of Swedenborir's faculty of presentiment is in- 
I in the same work, which was related to the author by one who. 
from his piety and love of truth, must be regarded as a credible 
ness. •• I v.-25 in Amsterdam," says this individual, 4i in the year 17 2, 
on the very day that Peter the Third, emperor of Russia, died, in a 
company in which Swedenborg was present. Jr. the midst of our con- 
versation his countenance changed, and it was evident that his soul 

no longer present, and that something extraordinary w i 
in him. As soon as he came to himself again, he was asked what had 
happened to him. He would not at first communicate it: t 

a th, after being repeatedly requested, he said : ' This very hour the 
emperor Peter HE. has died in his prison (mentioning at the same time 
the manner of his death). Gentlemen will please to note down the 
day. that they may be able to compare it with the intelligence of hi3 
death in the newspapers.' The latter subsequently announced the 
emperor's death as having taken place on that 



NOTE Vn.-?::: 54. 

A similar circumstance occurred to a relative of the trans 
who, having been placed, in hi _ :h a cabinerm; 

■was one day working at a model, when he suddenlv rose up from his 
and, in a fit of absence, walked to the opposite end of the room. 
On arriving there, he began to reprove himself for thus lc • ork 

without any reason, and was just on the point of return i _ ■ "hen 

the ceilin? above the place where he had been sitting, gave way, and 
fell immediately upon it, dashing to pieces the model, at which the 
moment before he had been wor. iermaker, 

though by no means a pious character, was deeply struck by this visi- 
ble interposition of Divine Providence, and could not avoid openly 
ascribing the young man's wonderful escape to the true source. 



NOTE VIIL— Pag- 

The following very remarkable dream is related in »■ The T 
newspaper of 16th August. 150- : — 

the night of the 11th o: Mr. WHfin 

rier house, near Redrath. in Cornwall, awoke his wife, and. 
ingly agitated, told her that he had dreamed that he was in the lobby 



264 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

of the house of commons, and saw a man shoot with a pistol a gentle- 
man who had just entered the lobby, who was said to be the chancel- 
lor : to which Mrs. Williams naturally replied, .that it was only a 
dream, and recommended him to be composed, and go to sleep as soon 
as he could. He did so, but shortly after again awoke her, and said 
that he had the second time had the same dream ; whereupon she ob- 
served, that he had been so much agitated with his former dream, that 
she supposed it had dwelt on his mind, and begged of him to try to 
compose himself and go to sleep, which he did. A third time the same 
vision was repeated ; on which, notwithstanding her entreaties that he 
would be quiet and endeavor to forget it, he arose, being then between 
one and two o'clock, and dressed himself. At breakfast, the dreams 
were the sole subject of conversation ; and in the forenoon Mr. Wil- 
liams went to Falmouth, where he related the particulars of them to 
all his acquaintance that he met. On the following day, Mr. Tucker, 
of Tremanton castle, accompanied by his wife, a daughter of Mr. 
Williams, went to Scorrier house about dusk. Immediately after the 
first salutations, on their entering the parlor, where were Mr., Mrs., 
and Miss Williams, Mr. Williams began to relate to Mr. Tucker the 
circumstances of his dream ; and Mrs. Williams observed to her daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Tucker, laughingly, that her father could not even suffer Mr. 
Tucker to be seated, before he told him of his nocturnal visitation : on the 
statement of which, Mr. Tucker observed, that it would do very well for 
a dream to have the chancellor in the lobby of the house of commons, but 
that he would not be found there in reality ; and Mr. Tucker then asked 
what sort of a man he appeared to be, when Mr. Williams minutely de- 
scribed him ; to which Mr. Tucker replied : ' Your description is not at 
all that of the chancellor, but is certainly very exactly that of Mr. Per- 
ceval, the chancellor of the exchequer ; and although he has been to me 
the greatest enemy I ever met with through life, for a supposed cause, 
which had no foundation in truth (or words to that effect), I should 
be exceedingly sorry indeed to hear of his being assassinated, or of any 
injury of the kind happening to him.' Mr. Tucker then inquired of 
Mr. Williams if he had ever seen Mr. Perceval, and was told that he 
never had seen him, nor had ever even written to him, either on public 
or private business ; in short, that he never had had anything to do 
with him, nor had he ever been in the lobby of the house of commons 
in his life. At this moment, while Mr. Williams and Mr. Tucker were 
still standing, they heard a horse gallop to the door of the house, and 
immediately after, Mr. Michael Williams, of Treviner (son of Mr. 
Williams of Scorrier), entered the room, and said, that he had galloped 



NOTE IX. 205 

out from Truro (from which Scorrier is distant seven miles), having 
seen a gentleman there who had come by that evening's mail from 
London, who said that he was in the lobby of the house of commons 
on the evening of the 11th, when a man called Billingham had shot Mr. 
Perceval ; and that as it might occasion some great ministerial chan- 
ges, and might affect Mr. Tucker's political friends, he had come out 
as fast as he could to make him acquainted with it, having heard at 
Truro that he had passed through that place in the afternoon, on his 
way to Scorrier. After the astonishment which this intelligence had 
created had a little subsided, Mr. Williams described most particu- 
larly the appearance and dress of the man that he saw in his dream 
fire the pistol, as he had before done of Mr. Perceval. About six 
weeks after, Mr. Williams having business in town, went, accompanied 
by a friend, to the house of commons, where, as has been already 
observed, he had never before been. Immediately that he came to the 
steps at the entrance of the lobby, he said : ' This place is as distinctly 
within my recollection, in my dream, as any room in my house ;' and 
he made the same observation when he entered the lobby. He then 
pointed out the exact spot where Bellingham stood when he fired, and 
which Mr. Perceval had reached when he was struck by the ball, and 
where and how he fell. The dress, of both Mr. Perceval and Bel- 
lingham, agreed with the description given by Mr. Williams, even to 
the most minute particular." 

"The Times" states, that Mr. Williams was then alive, and the 
witnesses to whom he made known the particulars of his dream, were 
also living ; and that the editor had received the statement from a cor- 
respondent of unquestionable veracity. 



NOTE IX.— Page 159. 

The striking and important fact, established by this remarkable nar- 
rative, that prayer for the dead is, at least in some cases, availing, and 
therefore acceptable to God, will doubtless startle many a pious reader, 
and appear to him as opening the door to all the abuses which are 
currently practised by the church of Rome in reference to it. Let us 
hear what our author says further upon this subject, premising, how- 
ever, that there is little reason to apprehend in protestant countries, in 
the present day, a recurrence to obsolete abuses, and that there are 
few who are so much in love with prayer as to expend it on what is 
generally conceived so hopeless a subject. 

In the " Pocket Book for the Friends of Religion," 1810, our author 

23 



266 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

replies to the inquiry " whether it is lawful to pray for the dead," by 
saying : " The articles of fairh of the protestant church answer deci- 
dedly in the negative ; because they establish the principle that at 
death the eternal destiny of the individual is irrevocably decided. 
But this is contradicted by the belief of the whole Christian church, 
from the times of the apostles down to the Reformation, as well as by 
reason and experience. The Bible does not decide the point ; yet it 
gives hints regarding the continuance of the purification of the soul 
after death ; and if the latter takes place, prayer for the dead is not 
unavailing — it can not be detrimental in any case. 

"In a considerable town, in which I dwelt, there lived an individual 
who was altogether a mere man of the world, and had no feeling for any- 
thing good or beautiful in the world, except money and property. To 
obtain these all his efforts were directed, and he gave himself no con- 
cern about God and religion, with the exception of the outward cere- 
monies of the church. This man had a son, who was just the contrary 
to his father ; he was well-informed, sincerely pious, and susceptible 
of all that was good and beautiful. Nothing moved his father, while 
he was affected by everything; and, when his father's house was too 
hot for him, he was accustomed to come to me and tell me all his 
heart. When he was of a sufficient age to marry with decency, his 
father destined him a wife, who had money, and whose father had the 
same sentiments as himself. It did not at all depend upon my young 
friend, whether he would be able to love the girl or not : it was suffi- 
cient that she was rich, and thought as her parents and her future 
father-in-law did. My friend obeyed : he married, and became the 
slave of an unfeeling woman, and of avaricious parents. 

" The young man gave himself all possible trouble to instil pious 
sentiments into his wife : he treated her extremely mildly and amiably, 
and prevented her in every reasonable wish ; but he perceived no 
change in her — she continued a frigid and unsusceptible creature. 

'* This couple passed thus two years together; the woman was then 
seized with a violent fever and died, without her husband remarking 
even the slightest change in her, or any desire for her eternal salva- 
tion. This grieved him deeply, and there arose in his soul an unceas- 
ing intercession for the salvation of his wife. He did not reflect 
whether this was according to the articles of his church, but followed 
his inward impulse, and continued this inward prayer for a whole year. 
On the anniversary of the day on which his wife died, the impulse to 
pray for her became still stronger ; he rose early in the morning, went 
to a distant and gloomy forest, prayed there the whole day with inde- 



NOTE IX. 267 

scribable earnestness, and returned home in the evening perfectly 
tranquillized. 

" The next morning he went to his father, in order to inquire after his 
child : for his wife had left him one that was now about a year old. 
The grandfather had taken charge of it, because he had persons about 
him who could attend to it; which was not the case with the son. 

"As soon as the father saw him, he said, with an unwonted degree 
of sympathy, ' I will tell you something: your wife was yesterday 
evening with me.' The son was struck with astonishment, and ex- 
claimed, 'What! father! my wife V — 'No other,' rejoined the old 
man; 'for, on entering my bedroom yesterday evening about ten 
o'clock, after undressing myself, I got into bed, and was still sitting up 
in it after extinguishing the light, when the bodily figure of your wife 
came in at the door. She went to the cradle of your child, which 
was sleeping in it, and bent over it awhile; she then became quite 
light, so that she shone, and afterward soared away again.' This 
apparition caused uncommon joy to the young man ; he was quite at 
ease in consequence. His father felt astonished, but this was all : he 
continued what he was before, an insensible, worldly-minded man — 
an additional proof that apparitions of spirits produce little or no effect 
on the improvement or conversion of the individual. 

" Whoever possesses a knowledge of mankind must be convinced 
that this apparition was no work of the imagination ; for this old man 
was incapable of such an illusion." 

A similar instance of the efficacy of prayer for departed souls is fur- 
nished by our author in the same work for the year 1811. It is as 
follows : — 

Extract of a letter from an enlightened and learned Divine in the 
north of Germany. 

"I will now, in conclusion, mention to you a very edifying story of 
an apparition, for the truth of which I can vouch, with all that is dear 
to me. My late mother, a pattern of true piety, and who was contin- 
ually engaged in prayer, lost, quite unexpectedly, after a short illness 
arising from a sore throat, my younger sister, a girl of about fourteen 
years of age. Now, as during her illness she had not spoken much 
with her on spiritual subjects, by no means supposing her end so near 
(although my father had done so), she reproached and grieved herself 
most profoundly, not only on this account, but also for not having 
sufficiently nursed and attended upon her, or for having neglected 
something, that might have brought on her death. This feeling took 



268 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

so much hold of her, that she not only altered much in her appear- 
ance, from loss of appetite, but became so monosyllabic in speaking, 
that she never expressed herself except on being interrogated. She 
still, however, continued to pray diligently in her chamber. Being 
already grown up at the time, I spoke with my father respecting her, 
and asked him what was to "be done, and how my good mother might 
be comforted. He shrugged up his shoulders, and gave me to under- 
stand that, unless God interposed, he feared the worst. Now, it hap- 
pened that some days after, when we were all together, one Sunday 
morning, at church, with the exception of my mother — who remained 
at home — lhar, on rising up from prayer in her closet, she heard a 
noise as though some one was with her in the room. On looking about 
to ascertain whence the noise proceeded, something took hold of her 
invisibly and pressed her firmly to it, as if she had been embraced by 
some one, and the same moment she heard — without seeing anything 
whatever — very distinctly, the voice of her departed daughter, calling 
out quite plainly to her, '■Mamma! mamma! I am so happy — I am 
so happy T Immediately after these words the pressure subsided, and 
my mother felt and heard nothing more. But what a wished-for 
change did we all perceive in our dear mother on coming home ! She 
had regained her speech and former cheerfulness ; she ate and drank, 
and rejoiced with us at the mercy which the Lord had bestowed upon 
her; nor, during her whole life, did she ever notice again, with grief, 
the great loss which she had suffered by the decease of this excellent 
daughter." 

This event took place at Levin, a village belonging to the duchy of 
Mecklenberg, not far from Demmin, in Prussian-Pomerania, in the 
year 1759, the Sunday before Michaelmas. 



NOTE X.— Page 170. 

In the journal of the Rev. John Wesley, there is an account given 
of an apparition, which, in many respects, bears great similarity to the 
foregoing, and must be accounted for on similar principles. It was 
related by the gentlewoman herself, and is as follows : — 

"About thirty years ago, I was addressed, by way of marriage, by 
Mr. Richard Mercier, then a volunteer in the army. The young gen- 
tleman was quartered at that time in Charleville, where my father 
lived, who approved of his addresses and directed me to look upon 
him as my future husband. When the regiment left the town, he 
promised to return in two months and marry me. From Charleville 



NOTE XL 269 

he went to Dublin, thence to his father's, and thence to England, 
where, his father having bought him a cornetcy of horse, he purchased 
many ornaments for the wedding, and, returning to Ireland, let us 
know that he would be at our house in Charleville in a few days. On 
this, the family was busied to prepare for his reception and the ensu- 
ing marriage ; when one night, my sister Mary and I being asleep in 
our bed, I was awakened by the sudden opening of the side-curtain, 
and, starting up, saw Mr. Mercier standing by the bedside. He was 
wrapped up in a loose sheet, and had a napkin folded like a nightcap on 
his head. He looked at me very earnestly, and lifting up the napkin, 
which much shaded his face, showed me the left side of his head, all 
bloody and covered with his brains ; the room, meantime, was quite 
light. My terror was excessive, which was increased by his stooping 
over the bed and embracing me in his arms. My cries alarmed the 
whole family, who came crowding into the room. Upon their entrance 
he gently withdrew his arms and ascended, as it were, through the 
ceiling. I continued for some time in strong fits. When I could 
speak, I told them what I had seen. One of them, a day or two after, 
going to the postmaster for letters, found him reading the newspapers, 
in which was an account that Cornet Mercier, going into Christ-church 
belfry, in Dublin, just after the bells had been ringing, and standing 
under the bells, one of them, which was turned bottom upward, sud- 
denly turned again, struck one side of his head, and killed him on the 
spot. On further inquiry, we found he was struck on the left side of 
his head." 



NOTE XI.— Page 188 

The view which our author gives of apparitions from the invisible 
world, has in man} r points a striking resemblance to the sentiments 
which the Marquis de Marsay — a pious French protestant writer, 
whose works were published about the year 1735 — expresses on this 
subject. He writes as follows : — 

"I believe that there are three kinds of spirits which return to this 
world after the death of their bodies. The spirits of such as are in 
a state of condemnation, and which are in a very miserable condition, 
hover about and haunt the place where they have committed their 
evil deeds and iniquities. They remain at these places by Divine 
permission, and do all the evil they can, while at the same time they 
sutler intolerable torments and are very malignant. Some of this 
kind of spirits occasionally make themselves visible, which was the 



270 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

case only a short time ago ; for a pious clergyman wrote from the 
place, where he is still a minister, that a man, whom he himself had 
baptized — and who, after leading a wicked life, threw himself into a 
well and drowned himself, having previously thrown his dog into it — 
had thus shown himself. This event happened in the Palatinate, 
just when the French troops were at the place, who, shortly after the 
death of this man (whose body had been drawn up out of the well and 
buried in another place), placed a sentinel near the well. It so hap- 
pened that, in the night, the sentinel saw the figure of a man at this 
well ; he called out, ' Who's there ?' but receiving no answer, he 
fired at the figure, but without effect ; on which the sentinel ran upon 
the man with his drawn sword, but he vanished away. This event 
occasioned a great noise in the village, and the man was afterward 
seen several times at the well." 

"The second kind of spirits are those which roam about, because 
they seek to free themselves from their state of purification by other 
means than by resignation to Divine justice : hence they seek help 
from those that fear God, and, in so doing, withdraw themselves from 
the Divine order. One of this kind of spirits showed itself to me in a 
very evident manner ; but after I had directed it to Jesus Christ, its 
Savior and Redeemer, it returned no more. These are not evil spirits, 
but such as are still in their self-will, and therefore refuse to yield 
to the Divine order, by voluntarily submitting to the punishment 
imposed upon them, even as those mistaken souls do in this life, whom 
God conducts into the path of obscure faith, and into the trials and 
afflictions which accompany purification, to which they will not sub- 
mit, and seek, though fruitlessly, other aid, instead of resigning them- 
selves to God, and patiently and submissively enduring all that afflicts 
them. But, because they will not act thus, they are out of the Divine 
order, by which means they only prolong and increase their sufferings, 
and make their purification so much the more difficult and painful." 

"The third kind of spirits, or rather souls that reappear, are those 
whose punishment is to be at some certain place in this world, because 
they have satisfied their passions in that place, and lived according to 
their lusts in an idolatrous manner; for that which now causes a man 
lust and pleasure must hereafter serve as his pain and punishment. 
Of this we have several instances : among others, that of a pious man, 
who after his death appeared to his daughter, who was likewise a 
pious person ; and after conversing with her some time on his state, he 
began to turn pale, to tremble, and be much distressed, and said to his 
daughter that the time was now arrived when he must go and remain 



NOTE XL 271 

for a time in his grave, with his putrifying and corrupting corpse ; and 
that this happened to him every day, because, in his lifetime, he had 
too much affection and tenderness for his body." 

In a later work of our author's already referred to (Pocket-Book 
for the Friends of Religion, for 1814), he inserts a letter, containing a 
similarly striking occurrence ; which he premises by saying that he is 
acquainted with the whole family of the writer, parents and children, 
and vouches for the truth of the narrative, in so far as the account 
given by a heart that loves God and the truth can be trusted and con- 
fided in. The letter is as follows : — 

" My brother, J. H. C , was placed, by a certain reigning prince, 

as doctor of medicine in A , and, on account of his pecular abili- 
ties, the title of Aulic counsellor was at the same time conferred upon 
him. He resided there about four years, toward the close of which, 

he resolved, at the request of my late father, to return to H , in 

order to be of service to him as well as to the rest of his family. We 
ardently looked for his arrival for some weeks, but in vain. During 
this state of hopeful expectation of soon being able to embrace my 
brother, I dreamed, one night, a short time before Christmas, lhat I 
saw my brother on horseback, who said to me that he was on a jour- 
ney ; he would therefore give me several commissions to my parents. 
I observed that his expression of countenance appeared verv strange, 
and asked him why he looked so blue-black in tbe face : on which he 
made answer that it was occasioned by the new cloak he had put on, 
which was dyed with indigo. On this he reached me his hand ; but, 
while giving him mine, his horse began to plunge, which terrified me 
and I awoke. Not long after awaking, the door of my room opened, 
some one came to my bedside and drew aside the curtains, when I 
perceived the natural figure of my brother in his night-gown. After 
standing there a few minutes, he went to the table, took up the snuf- 
fers and let them fall, and then shut the room-door again. Fear, 
apprehension, and terror, overpowered me to such a degree, that I 
could not stay in bed any longer. I begged my eldest sister, who 
also witnessed this scene, to accompany me to my parents. On enter- 
ing the chamber of the latter, my father was astonished, and asked me 
the reason of my nocturnal coming. I besought him to spare me with 
the answer till the morrow, and only permit me to pass the night in 
his room, to which he assented. As soon as I awoke in the morning, 
I was called upon by my parents to relate what had happened, which 
my eldest sister confirmed. The circumstance seemed so remarkable 
to my father — who, as is well known, is by no means superstitious — 



272 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

that he noted down the night and the hour. About three weeks after, 
my father received the melancholy intelligence of my brother's de- 
cease ; when it appeared that he had died the same night and the 
same hour, of an epidemic disorder, in which he had been suffocated, 
and his face had become quite black. In the last days of his illness, 
he had spoken continually of his family, and had wished for nothing 
more ardently, than to be able to speak once more with me. 
" S , 24th July, 1811." 



NOTE XII.— Page 225. 

To illustrate and confirm the various relations and statements given 
by our author respecting apparitions from the invisible world, we sub- 
join a most remarkable account of a developed faculty of presentiment, 
extracted from the journal of the Rev. John Wesley, who has premised 
it with a few remarks, which manifest a striking coincidence with the 
views and sentiments expressed by our author: — ■ 

" 25th May, 1768. — Being at Snnderland, I took down, from one 
who had feared God from her infancy, one of the strangest accounts I 
ever read : and yet I can find no pretence to disbelieve it. The well- 
known character of the person excludes all suspicion of fraud, and the 
nature of the circumstances themselves excludes the possibility of a 
delusion. 

"It is true there are several of them I do not comprehend : but this 
is, with me, a very slender objection ; for what is it which I do com- 
prehend, even of things which I see daily? Truly not ' the smallest 
grain of sand or spire of grass.' I know not how the one grows, nor 
how the particles of the other adhere together. What pretence have 
I, then, to deny well-attested facts, because I can not comprehend 
them? 

" It is true, likewise, that the English in general, and indeed most of* 
the men of learning in Europe, have given up all accounts of witches 
and apparitions, as mere old wives' fables. I am sorry for it; and I 
willingly take this opportunity of entering my solemn protest against 
this violent compliment, which so many that believe the Bible pay to 
those who do not believe it. I owe them no such service. I take 
knowledge that these are at the bottom of the outcry which has been 
raised, and with such insolence spread throughout the nation, in direct 
opposition, not only to the Bible, but to the suffrages of the wisest 
and best of men in all ages and nations. They well know (whether 



NOTE XII. 273 

Christians know it or not), that the giving up of witchcraft* is, in 
effect, giving up the Bible; and they know, on the other hand, that 
if but one account of the intercourse of men with separate spirits be ad- 
mitted, their whole castle in the air (deism, atheism, materialism) falls 
to the ground. I know no reason, therefore, why we should suffer 
even this weapon to be wrested out of our hands. Indeed, there are 
numerous arguments besides, which abundantly confute their vain 
imaginations, but we need not be hooted out of one ; neither reason 
nor religion requires this. 

M One of the capital objections to all these accounts, which I have 
known urged over and over, is this : ' Did you ever see an apparition 
yourself?' Xo, nor did I ever see a murder, yet I believe there is 
such a thing; yea, and that, in one place or another, murder is com- 
mitted every clay. Therefore, I can not, as a reasonable man, deny 
the fact, although I never saw it, and perhaps never may. The tes- 
timony of unexceptionable witnesses fully convinces me of both the 
one and the other. 

"Elizabeth Hobson was born in Sunderland, in the year 1744. 
Her father dying when she was three or four years old, her uncle, 
ilea, a pious man, brought her up as his own daughter. She 
was serious from a child, and grew up in the fear of God. Yet she 
had deep and sharp convictions of sin, till she was about sixteen years 
of age, when she found peace with God, and from that time the whole 
tenor of her behavior was suitable to her profession. 

" On Wednesday, May 25, 1763, and the three following day-. 1 
talked with her at large ; but it was with great difficulty I prevailed 
on her to speak. The substance of what she said was as follows : — 

" 'From my childhood, when any of our neighbors died, whether 
men, women, or children, I used to see them, either just when they 
died, or a little before : nor was I at all afraid, it was so common. 
Indeed, many times I did not then know they were dead. I saw 
many of them by day, many by night. Those that came when it 
was dark brought light with them. I observed that little children and 
many grown persons had a bright, glorious light around them ; but 
many had a gloomy, dismal light, and a dusky cloud over them. 

" -When I told my uncle this, he did not seem to be at all sur- 
prised at it, but several times said, "Be not afraid, only take care to 
fear and serve God ; as long as he is on your side, none will be able to 
hurt you." At other times he said — dropping a word now and then, 
but Beldam answering me any questions about it — " Evil spirits very 
* The operation of malignant or infernaj! influence. 



274 PNEUMATOLGY. 

seldom appear but between eleven at night and two in the morning ; 
but after they have appeared to the person a year, they frequently 
come in the daytime. Whatever spirits, good or bad, come in the 
day, they come at sunrise, at noon, and at sunset. 1 ' 

"'When I was between twelve and thirteen, my uncle had a 
lodger, who was a very wicked man. One night I was sitting in my 
chamber, about half an hour after ten, having by accident put out my 
candle, when he came in all over in a flame. I cried out, " William, 
why do you come in so to fright me ?" He said nothing, but went 
away. I went after him into his room, but found he was fast asleep 
in bed. A day or two after he fell ill, and within the week died in 
raging despair. 

" ' I was between fourteen and fifteen, when I went very early one 
morning to fetch up the kine. I had two fields to cross into a low 
ground, which was said to be haunted. Many persons had been 
frighted there, and I had myself often seen men and women (so many, 
at times, that they were out of count) go just by me and vanish away. 
This morning, as I came toward it, I heard a confused noise, as of 
many people quarrelling ; but I did not mind it, and went on till I 
came near the gate. I then saw on the other side a young man, 
dressed in purple, who said, "It is too early ; go back whence you 
came, and the Lord be with you and bless you :" and presently he 
was gone. 

" ' When I was about sixteen, my uncle fell ill, and grew worse 
and worse for three months. One day, having been sent out on an 
errand, T was coming home through a lane, when I saw him in the 
field coming swiftly toward me. I ran to meet him, but he was gone. 
When I came home, I found him calling for me. As soon as I came 
to his bedside, he clasped his arms round my neck, and, bursting into 
tears, earnestly exhorted me to continue in the ways of God, kept his 
hold, till he sunk down and died; and even then they could hardly 
unclasp his fingers. I would fain have died with him, and wished to 
be buried with him, dead or alive. 

11 'From that time, I was crying from morning till night, and pray- 
ing that I might see him. I grew weaker and weaker, till one morn- 
ing, about one o'clock, as I was lying, crying as usual, I heard some 
noise, and, rising up, saw him come to, the bedside. He looked much 
displeased, shook his head at me, and in a minute or two went away. 

" 'About a week after, I took to my bed, and grew worse and 
worse, till in six or seven days my life was despaired of. Then, about 
eleven at night, my uncle came in. looked well pleased, and sat down 



NOTE XII. 275 

on the bedside. He came every night after, at the same hour, and 
stayed till cock-crowing. I was exceeding glad, and kept my eyes 
fixed on him all the time he stayed. If I wanted drink or anything, 
though I did not speak or stir, he fetched it and set it on the chair by 
the bedside. Indeed, I could not speak. Many times I strove, but 
could not move my tongue. Every morning, when he went away, he 
waved his hand to me, and I heard delightful music, as if many per- 
sons were singing together. 

" ' In about six weeks I grew better. I was then musing one night, 
whether I did well in desiring he might come, and I was praying that 
God would do his own will, when he came in and stood by the bedside. 
But he was not in his usual dress : he had on a white robe, which 
reached down to his feet. He looked quite well pleased. About 
one, there stood by him a person in white, taller than he, and exceed- 
ingly beautiful. He came with the singing as of many voices, and 
continued till near cock-crowing. Then my uncle smiled, and waved 
his hand toward me twice or thrice. They went away with inex- 
pressibly sweet music, and I saw him no more. 

" * In a year after this a young man courted me, and in some 
months we agreed to be married. But he purposed to take another 
voyage first, and one evening went on board his ship. About eleven 
o'clock, going out to look for my mother, I saw him standing at hi9 
mother's door, with his hands in his pockets and his hat pulled over 
his eyes. I went to him and stretched out my hand to put up his 
hat, but he went swiftly by me, and I saw the wall, on the other side 
of the lane, part as he went through, and then immediately close after 
after him. At ten the next morning he died. 

"'A few days after, John Simpson, one of our neighbors — a man 
that truly feared God, and one with whom I was particularly ac- 
quainted — went to sea as usual. He sailed out on a Tuesday. The 
Friday night following, between eleven and twelve o'clock, I heard 
one walking in my room, and every step sounded as if he was stepping 
in water. He then came to the bedside in his sea-jacket, all wet, and 
stretched his hand over me. Three drops of water fell on my breast, 
and felt as cold as ice. I strove to awake his wife, who lay with me ; 
but I could not. any more than if she was dead. Afterward I heard 
that he was cast away that night. In less than a minute he went 
away ; but he came to me every night for six or seven nights follow- 
ing, between eleven and two. Before he came, and when he wont 
away, I always heard sweet music. Afterward he came both day and 
night — every night about twelve, with the music at his coming and 



276 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

going; and every day at sunrise, noon, and sunset. He came — 
whatever company I was in — at church, in the preaching-house, at 
my class ; and was always just before me, changing his posture as I 
changed mine. When I sat, he sat ; when I kneeled, he kneeled ; 
when I stood, he stood likewise. I would fain have spoken to him, but 
I could not ; when I tried, my heart sunk within me. Meantime it af- 
fected me more and more ; so that I lost my appetite, my color, and my 
strength. This continued ten weeks, while I pined away, not daring 
to tell any one. At last he came four or five nights without any mu- 
sic, and looked exceeding sad. On the fifth night he drew the curtains 
of the bed violently to and fro, still looking wistfully at me and as one 
quite distressed. This he did two nights : on the third, I lay down 
about eleven, on the side of the bed. I quickly saw him walking up 
and down the room. Being resolved to speak to him, but unwilling any 
should hear, I rose and went up into the garret. When I opened the 
door I saw him walking toward me, and shrunk back, on which he 
stopped and stood at a distance. I said, "In the name of the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, what is your business with me ?" He answered, 
*' Betsy, God forgive you for keeping me so long from my rest ! Have 
you forgot what you promised before I went to sea — to look to my 
children if I was drowned ? You must stand to your word, or I can 
not rest." I said, "I wish I was dead." He said, "Say not so; 
you have more to go through before then : and yet, if you knew as 
much as I do, you would not care how soon you died. You may 
bring the children on in their learning while they live ; they have but 
a short time." I said, "I will take all the care I can." He added, 
"Your brother has written for you to come to Jamaica; but if you 
go, it will hurt your soul. You have also thoughts of altering your 
condition; but if you marry him you think of, it will draw you from 
God, and you will neither be happy here nor hereafter. Keep close 
to God, and go on in the way wherein you have been brought up." I 
asked, " How do you spend your time?" He answered, " In songs 
of praise. But of this you will know more by-and-by ; for where I 
am, you will surely be. I have lost much happiness in coming to 
you ; and I should not have stayed so long without using other means 
to make you speak, but the Lord would not suffer me to fright you. 
Have you anything more to say ? It draws near two, and after that I 
can not stay. I shall come to you twice more before the death of my 
two children. God bless you !" Immediately I heard such singing, 
as if a thousand voices joined together. He then went down stairs, 

He smiled, and I said, "I 



NOTE XII. 277 

desire you will come back." He stood still till I came to him. I 
asked him one or two questions, which he immediately answered, but 
added, "I wish you had not called me back, for now I must take 
something from you." He paused a little, and said, "I think you 
can best part with the hearing of your left ear." He laid his hand 
upon it, and in the instant it was as deaf as a stone, and it was several 
years before I recovered the least hearing of it. The cock crowed as 
he went out of the door, and then the music ceased. The elder of 
his children died at about three and a half, the younger before he was 
five years old. He appeared before the death of each, but without 
speaking. After that I saw him no more. 

" ' A little before Michaelmas, 1763, my brother George, who was a 
good young man, went to sea. The day after Michaelmas-day, about 
midnight, I saw him standing by my bedside, surrounded with a glo- 
rious light, and looking earnestly at me. He was wet all over. That 
night, the ship in which he sailed split upon a rock, and all the crew 
were drowned. 

444 On April 9, 1767, about midnight, I was lying awake and saw 
my brother John standing by my bedside. Just at that time he died 
in Jamaica. 

44 4 By his death I became entitled to a house in Sunderland, which 
was left us by my grandfather, John Hobson, an exceeding wicked 
man, who was drowned fourteen years ago. I employed an attorney 
to recover it from my aunt, who kept possession of it ; but, finding 
more difficulty than I expected, in the beginning of December I gave 
it up. Three or four nights after, as I rose up from prayer, a little 
before eleven, I saw him standing at a small distance. I cried out, 
44 Lord bless me! what brings you here?" He answered, 44 You 
have given up the house : Mr. Parker advised you so to do; but if 
you do, I shall have no rest. Indeed, Mr. Dunn, whom you have 
employed, will do nothing for you. Go to Durham ; employ an attor- 
ney there, and it will be recovered." His voice was loud, and so 
hollow and deep, that every word went through me. His lips did not 
move at all, nor his eyes, but the sound seemed to rise out of the 
floor. When he had done speaking, he turned about and walked out 
of the room. 

44 4 In January, as I was sitting on the bedside, a quarter before 
twelve, he came in, stood before me, looked earnestly at me, then 
walked up and down, and stood and looked again. This he did for 
half an hour, and thus he came every other nighl lor about three 
weeks. All this time he seemed angry, and sometimes his look wis 

24 ' 



278 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

quite horrid and furious. One night I was sitting up in bed, crying, 
when he came and began to pull off the clothes. I strove to touch his 
hand, but could not, on which he shrunk back and smiled. 

"'The next night but one, about twelve, I was again sitting up 
and crying, when he came and stood at the bedside. As I was look- 
ing for a handkerchief, he walked to the table, took one up, brought 
and dropped it upon the bed. After this he came three or four nights, 
and pulled the clothes off, throwing them on the other side of the bed. 

" ' Two nights after, he came as I was sitting on the bedside, and, 
after walking to and fro, snatched the handkerchief from my neck : I 
fell into a swoon. When I came to myself, he was standing just be- 
fore me ; presently he came close to me, dropped it on the bed, and 
went away. 

" ' Having had a long illness the year before, having taken much 
cold by his frequent pulling off the clothes, and being worn out by 
these appearances, I was now mostly confined to my bed. The next 
night, soon after eleven, he came again. I asked, "In God's name, 
why do you torment me thus ? you know it is impossible for me to go 
to Durham now. But I have a fear that you are not happy, and beg 
to know whether you are or not." He answered, after a little pause, 
" That is a bold question for you to ask. So far as you knew me to 
do amiss in my lifetime, do you take care to do better." I said, "It 
is a shocking affair to live and die after that manner." He replied, 
"It is no time for reflection now ; what is done can not be undone." 
I said, "It must be a great happiness to die in the Lord." He said, 
"Hold your tongue ! hold your tongue! At your peril, never men- 
tion such a word before me again." I was frightened, and strove to 
lift up my heart to God. He gave a shriek and sunk down at three 
times, with a loud groan at each time, Just as he disappeared, there 
was a large flash of fire, and I fainted away. 

" ' Three days after, I went to Durham and put the affair into Mr. 
Hugill the attorney's hands. The next night, about one, he came in ; 
but, on my taking up the Bible, he went away. A month after, he 
came about eleven. I said, " Lord bless me ! what has brought you 
here again?" He said, "Mr. Hugill has done nothing, but wrote 
one letter : you must write, or go to Durham again : it may be de- 
cided in a few days." I said, " Why do you not go to my aunts, who 
keep me out of it ?" He answered, " I have no power to go to them, 
and they can not bear it. If I could, I would go to them, were it 
only to warn them ; for I doubt where I am, I shall get too many to 
bear me company." He added, " Take care ! there is mischief laid 



NOTE XII. 279 

in Peggy's [her aunt's] hand ; she will strive to meet you coming from 
the class. I do not speak to hinder you from going to it, bat that you 
may be cautious. Let some one go with you and come back with 
you, though whether you will escape or not I can not tell." I said, 
" She can do no more than God w r ill let her." He answered, "We 
have all too little to do with him : mention that word no more. As 
soon as this is decided, meet me at Boyldon hill [about half a mile 
from the town] between twelve and one at night." I said, " That is 
a lone place for a woman to go at that time of night. I am willing to 
meet you at the Ballast hills or in the churchyard." He said, " That 
will not do; but what are you afraid of?" I answered, "lam not 
afraid of you, but of rude men." He said, "1 will set you safe, both 
thither and back again." I asked, " May I not bring a minister with 
me?" He replied, "Are you thereabouts? I will not be seen by 
any but you. You have plagued me sore enough already : if you 
bring any one with you, take what follows." 

"'From this time he appeared every night between eleven and 
two. Jf I put out the fire and candle, in hopes I should not see him, 
it did not avail ; for, as soon as he came, all the room was light, but 
with a dismal light, like that of flaming brimstone ; but whenever I 
took up the bible or kneeled down — yea, or prayed in my heart — he 
was gone. 

" ' On Thursday, May 12, he came about eleven, as I was sitting 
by the fire. I asked, "In God's name, what do you want?" He 
said, "You must either go or write to Durham : I can not stay from 
you till this is decided, and I can not stay where I am." When he 
went away, I fell into a violent passion of crying, seeing no end to my 
trouble. In this agony I continued till after one, and then fell into 
a fit. About two o'clock I came to myself, and saw, standing at 
the bedside, one in a white robe which reached down to his feet. I 
cried, " In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." He said, 
" The Lord is with you ; I am come to comfort you. What cause 
have you to complain and murmur thus for your friends ? Pray for 
them and leave them to God. Arise and pray." I said, " I can pray 
none." He said, " But God will help you ; only keep close to God. 
You are backward, likewise, in praying with others, and afraid to 
receive the Lord's supper : break through that backwardness and 
that fear. The Lord bless yon and be ever with you !" As he went 
away, I heard many voices singing hallelujah, with such melody n< I 
never heard before. All my trouble was gone and I wanted nothing 
but to fly away with them. 



280 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

" ' Saturday, 28th. — About twelve, my grandfather stood at my 
bedside. I said, "In God's name, what do you want?" He said, 
4 ' You do not make an end of this thing : get it decided as soon as pos- 
sible. My coming is as uneasy to myself as it can be to you."' Be- 
fore he came, there was a strong smell of burning, and the room was 
full of smoke, which got into my eyes and almost blinded me for some 
time after. 

"' Wednesday, 21st June. — About sunset, I was coming up stairs 
at Mr. Knot's, and I saw him coming toward me out of the opposite 
room. He went close by me on the stair-head. Before I saw him, I 
smelt a strong smell of burning, and so did Miss Hasmer. It got into 
my throat and almost stifled me. I sat down and fainted away. 

"'On Friday, July 3, I was sitting at dinner, when I thought I 
heard one come along the passage. I looked about and saw my aunt, 
Margaret Scot, of Newcastle, standing at my back. On Saturday I 
had a letter informing me that she died on that day.' 

" Thus far Elizabeth Hobson. 

" On Sunday, July 10, I received the following letter from a friend, 
to whom I had recommended her : — 

"Sunderland, 6th July, 1768. 

"I wrote you word before, that Elizabeth Hobson was put into 
possession of the house. The same night, her old visitant, who had 
not troubled her for some time, came again and said, ' You must meet 
me at Boyldon hill on Thursday night, a little before twelve. You 
will see many appearances, who will call you to come to them ; but 
do not stir, neither give them any answer. A quarter before twelve I 
shall come and call you, but still do not answer nor stir.' She said, 
1 It is a hardship upon me for you to desire me to meet you there. 
Why can not you take your leave now?' He answered, ' It is for 
your good that I desire it. I can take my leave of you now ; but if I 
do, I must take something from you, which you would not like to part 
with.' She said, ' May not a few friends come with me ?' He said, 
1 They may, but they must not be present when I come.' 

"That night, twelve of us met at Mr. Davison's (about a quarter 
of a mile from the hill), and spent some time in prayer. God was 
with us of a truth. Then six of us went with her to the place, leav- 
ing the rest to pray for us. We came thither a little before twelve, 
and then stood at a small distance from her. It being a fine night, we 
kept her in our sight, and spent the time in prayer. She stood there 
till a few minutes after one. When we saw her move, we went to 



NOTE XII. 281 

meet her. She said, ' Thank God, it is all over and done ! I found 
everything as he told me. I saw many appearances, who called me 
to them, but I did not answer nor stir. Then he came and called me 
at a distance, but I took no notice. Soon after he came up to me and 
said, " You are come well fortified." ' He then gave her the reasons 
why he requested her to meet him at that place, and why he could 
take his leave there, and not in the house, without taking something 
from her. But withal, he charged her to tell this to no one, adding, 
1 If you disclose this to any creature, I shall be under the necessity 
of troubling you as long as you live ; if you do not, I shall never 
trouble you, nor see you any more, either in time or eternity.' He 
then bade her farewell, waved his hand, and disappeared." 

It would be easy to multiply well-authenticated instances of appa- 
ritions from the invisible world, which have occurred in our own coun- 
try; but as those which have been already adduced are sufficient to 
confirm and establish the theory laid down in this work, we will only 
add the following: — 

Extract of a Letter from Mr. James Hamilton. 

"Di-nbar, 26th May, 1784. 

" The servant of Dr. Menzie, physician at Dumfries, in Scotland, 
told his master and many others that the Laird of Cool, lately dead, 
appeared to him, rode him down and killed his horse ; that he ap- 
pointed him to meet him some time after at such a place, which he 
promised to do. But Mr. Paton, then minister of Dumfries, advised 
him to break that promise. 

" Mr. Ogilvie, then minister at Innerwick near Dunbar, on hearing 
this, blamed Mr. Paton much, saying, k Had he been there, he would 
not only have advised him to keep his promise, but would have gone 
with him.' The ensuing relation of what followed, written in Mr. 
Ogilvie's own hand, was found in his desk, after his death, by Mrs. 
Ogilvie. She gave it to Mr. Lundie, now minister of Oldhamstocks, 
who gave it to me. 

" James Hamilton." 

The following is transcribed from Mr. Lundie's copy: — 
"On February 3, 1772, at seven o'clock at night, as I was coming 
up the burial-road, one came riding up after me. Looking back, 
I called out, ' Who is there ?' He answered, ' The Laird of Cool.' 
Thinking it was some one who wanted to put a trick upon me, [ struck 
at him with my cane. It found no resistance, but flew out of my 

24* 



282 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

hand to the distance of about twenty yards. I alighted and took it 
up, but found some difficulty in mounting, partly by the ramping of 
my horse, and partly by a trembling, which ran through my joints. 
He stopped till I came up to him again, and I said, ' If you are the 
Laird of Cool, what is your business with me V He answered, ' You 
have undertaken what few in Ridsdale would.' I asked, in surprise, 
'What have I undertaken?' He answered, 'Last sabbath, you 
blamed Mr. Paton for advising the young man not to keep his promise, 
and said you would be willing to go with him yourself.' 

" Ogilvie. Who informed you that I said so ? 

" Cool. We that are dead know many things that the living know 
nothing about. All I want is, that you will fulfil your promise, and 
deliver my commissions to my wife. 

" Ogilvie. Did I say I would go all the way to Dumfries upon such 
an errand ? It never entered into my thoughts. 

" Cool. What was in your thoughts I do not know ; but I can de- 
pend upon my information, that these were your words. But I see 
you are in some disorder; I will wait upon you again, when you have 
more presence of mind. 

" By this time we were come below the churchyard, and while I 
was considering whether I had promised or no, he broke from me 
through the churchyard with amazing violence, and with such a whiz- 
zing noise as put me into more disorder than before. When I came To 
my house, my wife, seeing me very pale, inquired what ailed me. I 
told her I was a little uneasy, and desired something to drink. Being 
thereby eased and refreshed, I retired to my closet to meditate on this 
astonishing adventure. 

"On the 5th of March, 1772, as I was riding, about sunset, near 
William White's marsh, the Laird of Cool came riding up to me again 
and said, 'Be not afraid: I will do you no harm.' I replied, 'I 
am not in the least afraid, for I know that He in whom I trust 
is stronger than all of you put together.' 

" Cool. You are safe from me as when I was alive. 

" Ogilvie. Then let us have a free conversation together, and give 
me some information about the other world. 

" Cool. What information do you want from me ? 

" Ogilvie. Are you in a state of happiness, or not? 

" Cool. That is a question I will not answer. Ask something else. 

" Ogilvie. I ask, then, what sort of a body is that you appear in? 

" Cool. It is not the same body wherein I was witness to your mar- 
riage, nor that in which I died — that is rotting in the grave — but it is 



NOTE XII. 283 

such a body as answers me in a moment. I can fly as fast in this 
body as without it. If I would go to London, to Jerusalem, or to the 
moon, I can perform those journeys equally soon, for it costs me nothing 
but a thought. This body is as fleet as your thought. In the time 
you can turn your thoughts to Rome, I can go there in person. 

" Ogilvie. But tell me, have you not yet appeared before God, and 
received sentence from him as a Judge ? 

" Cool. Never yet. 

" Ogilvie. It is commonly believed there is a particular judgment 
immediately after death, and a general one at the last day. 

" Cool. No such thing — no such thing. There is no trial, no sen- 
tence till the last day. The heaven good men enjoy immediately 
after death, consists in the serenity of their minds, the satisfaction of 
a good conscience, and the certain hope of glory everlasting. The 
hell which the wicked suffer immediately after death, consists in their 
wickedness, in the sting of an awakened conscience, the terror of 
facing the great Judge, and of everlasting torments; — and their mis- 
ery, when dead, bears a due proportion to the evil they did when liv- 
ing: but some of these, although not good, were far less wicked than 
others, and so are far less miserable : and, on the other hand, some 
were not wicked in this life, yet had but a small degree of goodness, 
and their faces are not more various in life than their circumstances 
are after death. 

" Ogilvie. To pass this, there is another question I want to ask : 
How came you to know what I said to Mr. Paton ? were you with 
us, though invisible ? 

"Cool. I was not: but you must know, that not only angels are 
continually sent from heaven to guard and comfort good men, but also 
the spirits of holy men are employed on the same errand. 

" Ogilvie. But has every man his guardian angel ? 

li Cool. Not every man, but many particular men have ; and there 
are few families but have one attending them. From what you have 
heard of spirits, you may easily conceive how one may be serviceable 
to each member of the family, even when far distant from each other. 
Yea, one powerful angel or departed spirit is sufficient for some vil- 
lages ; but to a great city, many angels or departed spirits are assigned, 
who are superintended by one great angel. Now Satan, in the gov- 
ernment of his kingdom, apes the kingdom of Christ as much as pos- 
sible. Accordingly, he sends out missionaries too; but because he has 
plenty of them, he Frequently commissions two or three to attend one 
family, if it be of great power or influence. 



284 PNEUMATOLOGY. 

" Ogilvie. I can not understand how the evil angels should be more 
numerous than the good ones. 

" Cool. Whatever the number of devils be, it is certain the number 
of wicked spirits departed, who are employed on this errand, is abun- 
dantly greater than that of the good ones. And there is as great a 
difference between the good and bad spirits as there is between the 
good and bad angels, with regard to their knowledge, activity, strength, 
and faculties. Yea, some departed souls exceed some of the original 
angels in all these respects. Now, both the good and evil angels have 
stated times of rendezvous, at which the principal angels (good and 
bad) that have the charge of towns, cities, or kingdoms (not to men- 
tion villages or individuals), hear all that is transacted. Many things 
false are related among the living, but nothing among the dead. In- 
deed, an evil spirit would not scruple telling a falsehood, if he could 
gain anything by it; but he can not. Nay, in making his report, he 
must tell nothing but the truth, or wo be to him ! But, besides their 
monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings, departed spirits may take a 
trip to see each other when they please. Three of these informed me 
of what you said : Andrew Akeman, that attends Mr. Thurston's fam- 
ily ; James Corbett, that waits on Mr. Paton's family, and was look- 
ing after Mrs. Paton when she was at your house ; and an original 
emissary appointed to wait on yours. 

" At this I was much surprised, and, after a little reflection, I 
asked, ' And is there an emissary from hell that attends my family ?' 

" Cool. You may depend upon it there is. 

" Ogilvie. And what is his business? 

" Cool. To divert you from your duty, and make you do as many 
ill things as he can ; for much depends on having the minister on hi 9 
side. 

"On this I was struck with a horror I can not express; but after a 
time, recollecting myself, I said, 'But is there a devil that attends 
our family, though invisibly ?' 

" Cool. As sure as you breathe. But there is also a good angel that 
attends your family, and is stronger than he. 

" Ogilvie. Are you sure of this ? 

" Cool. Yes, and there is one just now riding on your right arm. 
But he might have been elsewhere, for I meant you no harm. 

" Ogilvie. How long has he been with me ? 

" Cool. Only since we passed Branskie: but now he is gone. 

" Ogilvie. I desire now to part with you, and to see you another 
time. 



NOTE XII. 285 

" Cool. Be it so. I want your help of another kind. Now I bid 
you farewell. So saying, he went off at the head of the path going 
to Elmsclough. 

"On April 5th, 1772, as I was returning from Oldhamstocks, Cool 
struck up with me at the ruinous enclosure. I said to him, ' I am glad 
to see you ; what are now your demands upon me ?' 

'■'-Cool. All I desire is that you will go to my wife, who possesses 
all my effects, and inform her of the following particulars: first, I 
owed Provost Crosby five hundred pounds Scots, with three years' 
interest. On his death, my brother and I forged a discharge ; and 
when his heir wrote to me concerning this bond, I showed him the 
discharge and silenced him. Secondly, when I heard of Robert Ken- 
nedy's death, I forged a bill of one hundred and ninety pounds sterling, 
which was paid me. Thirdly, when Thomas Greor died, I owed him 
thirty-six pounds sterling : I met with a poor lad, a writer, whom I 
told I had paid Thomas Greor's account, but I had not a receipt, which 
I desired he would write for me. He flew into a passion and said he 
would rather be hanged. I said, ' Nay, I was but in jest;' and de- 
sired he would never mention it to any. Fourthly, I sent for your 
brother, who did all I desired for a guinea, and, for a guinea and a 
half more, gave me a discharge for two hundred pounds more (Scots), 
which I owed your father-in-law. But what vexes me more than all 
the rest, is the injustice I did Homer Maxwell, for whom I was factor. 
I had borrowed two thousand marks from him, two hundred of which 
he had borrowed from another. For this I gave him my bond. He 
died that year, leaving nine children. His wife died a month before 
him. His eldest daughter desired me to look over the papers, and to 
give her an account of their stock and debts. I slipped his bond into 
my pocket, whereby his circumstances proved bad, and the nine chil- 
dren are all starving. These things I beg you will represent to my 
wife, and let them be rectified. She has funds sufficient. If this be 
done, 1 think I shall be easier. 

" After a short pause, I answered, ' It is a good errand you would 
send me on — to do justice to the oppressed — and T might be a gainer 
myself; yet I beg a little, to consider on the matter. You need not 
bid me take courage ; for, though I see what your state is, I am no 
more afraid of you than of a new-born child. Tell me, then, since 
your agility is such that in the twinkling of an eye you can fly a 
thousand miles, why can not you fly to your wife, empty her bags 
into your hat invisibly, and do these people justice ?' 

11 Cool. I can not. 



28G PNEUMATOLGY. 

" Ogilvie. But you say, if these things were rectified, you should be 
easier. I can not understand that ; for, whatever justice be now done 
to the people, the guilt of the injustice still lies upon you. But why 
can not you take money to pay your debts ? 

" Cool. I can not touch any man's money, by reason of those who 
are the stated guardians of justice. 

" Ogilvie. Nay, but do not men take then money of others continu- 
ally ? and can not you do it, that can put yourself into a hundred 
shapes ? 

" Cool. God will not suffer us to injure men ; and indeed, men may 
guard themselves against men, but not against spirits. Were not 
these restrained, nothing that a man had would be safe. 

" Ogilvie. But might you not go to the mines of Mexico, where 
there is gold enough that would never be missed ? 

" Cool. No spirits, good or bad, have any power to touch money or 
gold. 

" Ogilvie. But what hinders bad spirits from doing it? 

" Cool. A superior Power, that guards and governs all. 

" Ogilvie. But why can not you go to your wife yourself, and tell 
her what you have on your mind ? 

" Cool. That is one of the questions I will not answer. But if you 
will go, I will make you full satisfaction for your trouble. 

" On the 10th of April, coming from Old Cambus, I met him again 
upon the post-road, on the head of the heath called the Pees. He 
asked whether I had considered the matter. I said to him, 'I have, 
and am of the same opinion still : for what a fool should I make of 
myself, if I were to go to Dumfries, and tell your wife that you had 
appeared to me and told me of many forgeries and villanies you had 
committed, for which it behooved her to make reparation ? Is it 
probable she would part with her money ? Would she not rather say 
I was mad, if she did not sue me for scandal ? But, dropping these 
matters till our next interview — ' " 

Here the manuscript ends. Whether Mr. Ogilvie did not see him 
any more, or whether death prevented his writing the rest of their 
conversation, is not certain. 



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